The Supreme Court on Tuesday listed for hearing on November 29 pleas challenging the decision of the Gujarat government to grant remission to the 11 convicts, who had gang-raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar granted time to the petitioners who challenged the remission order to respond to the affidavit filed by the Gujarat government. During the hearing, the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the affidavit of the Gujarat government is very bulky.
“It is a very big reply… so many judgments in a reply. Where is the factual statement? Where is the application of mind?” the bench remarked.
The bench asked the state government to supply a copy of the affidavit to the petitioners and posted it for hearing on November 29.
The Gujarat government on Monday defended before the Supreme Court its decision to grant remission to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, saying remission was granted as they completed 14 years of sentence in prison and their “behaviour was found to be good”.
It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, it has said.
