Observing that Bilkis Bano’s gangrape and murder of her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots as a “horrendous” act, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat Government whether uniform standards, as followed in other cases of murder, were applied while granting remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis case.
The top court, which at the same time clarified that it would not be overwhelmed by emotions in the case and would only go by the law, also directed the Gujarat Government to present all the relevant documents on April 18, the next date of hearing.
Bano had moved the apex court on November 30 last year challenging the “premature” release of 11 lifers by the State Government, saying it has “shaken the conscience of society”. The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 last year, after the Gujarat Government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna issued notice to the Centre, Gujarat government and the convicts on the plea filed by Bano and asked the parties to complete the pleadings by the next date of hearing. “It is a very horrendous act. We have an experience of people coming to this court saying they have been languishing in jails for ordinary cases of murder and their remission is not being considered. So is this a case where the standards have been adopted uniformly as in other cases? the bench remarked orally.
As the hearing commenced, the bench said there is a gamut of issues involved and it needed to hear the matter in detail. “What is the broad line of submission that you will take? Since power under section 432 (remission) of CrPC has been exercised by State of Gujarat, was there a direction by this court directing Gujarat to take a decision? We would like to know before hand what is the gamut of issues and the framework within which you will operate because I am retiring on June 17. I need time to understand the matter,” Justice Joseph observed.
Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, submitted that the State where the trial is held is to decide the remission application and Gujarat did not have jurisdiction to grant remission to the convicts. She also stated that the impact of the crime on the society is to be taken into consideration while granting remission. “The jurisdiction with the State here was Maharashtra and not Gujarat. Here please look at the impact of the crime on society,” she said.