New Delhi: The Gujarat government told the Supreme Court on Monday, October 17, that 11 men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots were released after the Union home ministry had approved the remission and premature release of convicts through a letter dated July 11, 2022, according to LiveLaw.
In the affidavit filed before the apex court, the state government underlined that their “behaviour was found to be good” and that they were released on the grounds that they had completed 14 years in jail.
The court was hearing a batch of petitions, filed by CPI (M) Politburo member Subhashini Ali, and Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, challenging the decision of the Gujarat government to release the convicts.
The 11 convicts walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15, serving 18 years of their life term. Their premature release set off a huge controversy, with political parties and civil society organisations demanding the decision be rolled back.
The state government underscored that the decision was taken according to its remission policy dated July 9, 1992, “as directed by” the apex court and not “under the circular governing the grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav'”.
“It is well established that a PIL is not maintainable in a criminal matter. The petitioner is in no way connected to the proceedings which either convicted the accused in question nor with the proceedings which culminated in grant of remission to the convicts,” an affidavit filed by the Gujarat home department stated, according to the LiveLaw report.
Calling for the petitions to be dismissed, the state government reply alleged that petitions were moved “at the instance of a mere busybody which has political machinations”.
“A third party stranger either under the provisions of the Code or under any other statute is precluded to question the correctness of grant or refusal of ‘sanction for prosecution’ or the conviction and sentence imposed by the court after a regular trial. Similarly, a third party stranger is precluded from questioning a remission order passed by the state government which is strictly in accordance with law,” the state government affidavit said.
During the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bano was raped and her three-year-old daughter was among 14 killed by a mob in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district. The convicts were sentenced to life term in prison by a special court in Mumbai for gangrape and the murder of Bano’s family members. The sentence was later upheld by the Bombay high court.
According to Indian Express, the Gujarat government cited a “unanimous” recommendation of the Jail Advisory Committee (JAC) to grant remission to the convicts on grounds of “good behaviour”.
