Bilkis Bano case: SC agrees on fresh plea challenging remission of 11 convicts

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a fresh writ petition against the remittance of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. Bilkis Bano is a victim of the post-Godhara Riots of Guajarata in 2002.

A fresh petition, moved by a women’s organisation named the National Federation of Indian Women, challenging the remission of sentence and the release of convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case, whose convicts were also involved in the killing of seven of her family members

A bench comprising justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar attached the matter with the main petition and said it would be heard along with it.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had said on 18th October that Gujarat government’s reply to petitions challenging the remission is very bulky, wherein a series of judgments have been quoted but factual statements are missing.

It granted time to the petitioners to file their response to the Gujarat government’s affidavit and said it would hear the matter on November 29.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had each served more than 15 years in jail.