A special bench has been formed by the Supreme court to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea against the release of the convicts.
CJI DY Chandrachud said on Wednesday “I will have a bench constituted and will look into the matter this evening”. He would hear the petitions challenging the early release of the 11 convicts https://tdznkwjt9mxt6p1p8657.cleaver.live/banos-petition-of-rape-prisoners-gets-denied/accused in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and murder case of 2002.
Today morning, CJI Chandrachud made this statement after advocate Shoba Gupta raised the matter of Bilkis Bano’s case to bring it in the attention of the CJI.
Gupta told the bench also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala that the matter was currently listed before Justice Ajay Rastogi who was sitting in combination with Justice Bela M Trivedi, who had recused from hearing it. She urged the court to set up a special bench to hear it.
CJI Chandrachud responded by agreeing to the request made by advocate Gupta and said he would list it for the hearing as early as possible. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-agrees-to-constitute-special-bench-to-hear-bilkis-banos-plea-against-remission-to-convicts-in-gang-rape-case/articleshow/98898330.cms
Who is Bilkis Bano?
The Godhra train burning incident of 2002 did not only bring communal violence but a more severe incident that created horror all across India. Bilkis Bano was a 21-year-old and five-month pregnant girl was brutally gangraped. Her seven family members including her five-month-old baby was also killed during the riots of 2002.
On Feburary 27, 2002 violence erupted in Gujrat when a train coming from Ayodhya to Sabarmati was burnt in Gujrat’s Godhra and fifty-nine karsevaks were killed.
On March 3, a mib of 20-20 armed with sticks and swords attacked the 5-month pregnant Bilkis Bano along with her toddler daughter. While Bano along with her family was looking for shelter, she was gangraped by 11 men and 7 of her family members were killed on the spot.
After the public outrage, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI probe into this horrifying incident. The accused were arrested in 2004 in Allahabad where a trial began against them.
The case was transferred to the Bombay high court when Bano showed apprehensions that the evidence could be harmed and tampered.
It was six years later, 2008, that the 11 convicts were given a life imprisonment by Special Central Bureau of Investigation. The convicts were charged with gangrape and murder of seven members of Bano’s family. The accused were acquitted due to lack of evidence out of which one had died during the trial.
Why were the convicts released?
In 2022, the Bombay high court had upheld their conviction and released all the 11 convicts. Not only they were released by the Bombay high court but also welcomed with garland.
They were released after the Gujrat government under its remission policy passed an order to release them.
For 15 years the eleven convicts served in jail after which one of them approached the SC with a plea for their premature release. The apex court asked the Gujrat government to look into this matter after which the convicts were set free.
According to Sujal Mayatra, “A committee which was formed a few months back had taken an unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case. This was recommended by the state government after which we got the order to release them”.
After the release of the convicts in 2022 last year, Bilikis in her plea said that this is “one of the most gruesome crimes this country can ever see” she added that the early release of the convicts came as a shock not only to her, but to her grown-up daughters, family, and to society at large, nationally and internationally. Bilkis added their premature release had “relived” her “trauma”.
