The Supreme Court today dismissed a plea by two convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case challenging the January 8 judgment that annulled their remission granted by the Gujarat Government and ordered them to surrender.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar heard the matter and rejected the plea as withdrawn, emphasising that the Court cannot act as an appellate body over a judgement rendered by a coordinate bench. “Under Article 32, we are not sitting on appeal, how is this maintainable? It’s misconceived,” remarked Justice Khanna.
Advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing the petitioners, cited a May 2022 judgement that deemed the Gujarat Government competent to consider the remission. However, the bench noted that the January judgement had already evaluated the previous ruling. This recent judgement declared the earlier one void due to fraud on the Court.
Background
On January 8, the Supreme Court nullified the remission of 11 convicts sentenced to life for multiple murders and gang rapes, including that of Bilkis Bano, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The Court determined that Gujarat was not the “appropriate government” to decide on remission as the trial occurred in Maharashtra, rendering the remission orders invalid. The convicts, released prematurely in August 2022, were ordered to return to prison within two weeks.
The current plea was filed by convicts Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah Lala Vakil and Rajubhai Babulal Soni, who also sought bail relief.
In March 2002, Bilkis Bano, then 21 and five months pregnant, was gang-raped in Gujarat’s Dahod district during the post-Godhra riots. Seven of her family members, including her three-year-old daughter, were killed by rioters. In 2008, after the trial moved to Maharashtra, a Mumbai sessions court convicted the accused under Sections 302 and 376(2)(e)(g). This is read with Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code, sentencing them to life imprisonment. In 2017, the Bombay High Court upheld these convictions. The Supreme Court later directed the Gujarat government to compensate Bano with Rs 50 lakh. Also, a government job, and a house.
Remission
After serving nearly 15 years, convict Radheshyam Shah sought remission from the Gujarat High Court. This denied jurisdiction and directed him to the Maharashtra Government. However, the Supreme Court, through Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath, ruled that the Gujarat Government should decide on remission. This is because the crime occurred there. Following this ruling, the Gujarat Government granted remission under its policy, releasing the convicts in August 2022. Thus, sparking public outrage and leading to multiple petitions challenging the decision.
Among those challenging the remission were CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, professor Rooplekha Verma. Also, journalist Revati Laul, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, former IPS officer Meeran Chadha Borwankar. The Supreme Court issued notices on these petitions in August and September 2022.
Bilkis Bano also approached the Supreme Court, challenging the premature release and seeking a review of the judgement. This allowed the Gujarat Government to decide on the remission, which was dismissed.
Following an 11-day hearing that began in August, Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan reserved their judgement on October 12.
