Bilkis Bano case: SC reserves order against remission to 11 convicts

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a batch of petitions filed against the remission granted to 11 convicts who allegedly gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
The Gujarat government released the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment, on August 15, 2022. All the 11 life-term convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008. Previously in March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots, Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her 3-year-old daughter. She was 5-month pregnant when rioters attacked her family in Vadodara. Bilkis Bano and others approached the apex court challenging the premature release of 11 convicts. Some PILs were filed seeking directions to revoke the remission granted to 11 convicts.
Earlier, the Gujarat government in its affidavit defended remission granted to convicts stating that they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their “behaviour was found to be good”. The state government stated that it has considered the cases of all 11 convicts as per the policy of 1992 and remission was granted on August 10, 2022, and the Central government also approved the release of the convicts.