The Supreme Court of India on Thursday sought clarification from the Gujarat and Union Governments on the selective application of remission policies for convicts serving prison terms.
The court was hearing a slew of petitions against the Gujarat Government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts involved in the notorious gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the subsequent murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that every eligible convict should be uniformly afforded an opportunity for reform and successful reintegration into society.
According to the Bar and Bench’s report, Justice Nagarathna articulated, “Why is the policy of remission being applied selectively? The opportunity to reintegrate and reform should be given to every convict, not a few. Question is, not en masse, but where eligible, are all life sentence convicts after 14 years being given the benefit of remission?”
These queries underline the Court’s concern over the unequal application of remission policies.
The convicts who were granted remission are: Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana, had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment for their heinous crimes.
Their release by the Gujarat Government, just ahead of the State Assembly polls, incited a series of pleas that were brought before the apex court.
The bench had earlier sought the response of the Gujarat Government on certain aspects related to the case on August 25 of the previous year. This came after the Court, earlier this month, underscored that an accused in a criminal case holds a constitutional right to be reintegrated into society.
During the proceedings, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju, who represented the Gujarat Government, asserted that the State Government was obligated by the effective mandamus of a May 2022 Supreme Court ruling, which stipulated that the State’s remission policy would be applicable in the case and required the
consideration of applications for remission in alignment with the policies of the Gujarat Government.