Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court quashes remission granted to 11 convicts by Gujarat government

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government order that granted remission to 11 men convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for gangraping Bilkis Bano and murdering 14 members of her family during the 2002 communal riots in the state, Live Law reported.

A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan held that the Supreme Court’s order in May 2022 directing the Gujarat government to decide the remission was secured by suppressing facts and fraud played on the court.

The bench was hearing a group of petitions challenging the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to the 11 convicted men, who were released on August 15, 2022, coinciding with 75 years of India’s independence.

The bench had reserved its judgment in the case on October 12 and directed the Centre and the state government to submit original records of the remission of sentence of the convicts.

During the hearing, Bano’s counsel Shobha Gupta had told the Supreme Court that the 11 men should be sent back to jail because of the barbarity of the crimes they committed.

However, Justice Nagarathna had pointed out that one of the convicts argued that remission is necessary for reformation. “They have given us judgments in which it is said that a man should be given a chance to...

Read more