Bilkis Bano was
21-years-old and five months pregnant when she was raped while fleeing the
horror of the communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train-burning
incident in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family
members killed in the riots.
All 11 convicts
were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15,
2022.
The SC on Monday
quashed the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to the 11
convicts, saying the orders were "stereotyped" and passed without
application of mind. It directed the convicts to surrender before jail
authorities within two weeks.
The SC said the
Gujarat government was not the appropriate government to pass the remission
order.
The apex court
clarified that the state, where an offender is tried and sentenced, is
competent to decide the remission plea of convicts. The convicts were tried by
Maharashtra.
Reacting to the
SC's judgement, Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the Gujarat BJP
government does not appear to follow the law and the Constitution.
"It appears
to work to save the culprits rather than get justice for victims, and this is
very well proved by the Supreme Court's judgement," he claimed.
This is not the
only instance, there have been many such cases where the government has
shielded those who commit a crime rather than protect the victims, he further
claimed.
It is very
unfortunate for the society, and people should ensure that the government runs
as per the law. The government has failed to ensure justice for the victim of
such a heinous crime," Doshi said.
Yagnik, the
senior lawyer of the Gujarat High Court, said, "In the first place, the
rules which are applicable for remission do not allow the government to remit
sentence to those convicts who are responsible for rape, murder and such
heinous crimes." The Supreme Court has ultimately come to the
conclusion that the state or the central government do not have the right to
remit the sentence of those involved in heinous crimes, he said.
"Even if it
was up to the Maharashtra government, it cannot grant remission...The judgment
shows that the rule of law is maintained," Yagnik said.
The state
government's decision was not in conformity with the law and it was
"social, religious and political pressure" that ultimately compelled
the state of Gujarat to take such a decision, he claimed.