NEW DELHI: Pulling up the Gujarat government for filing a bulky counter affidavit in response to the pleas filed by three women’s rights activists, including Subhashini Ali, challenging the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday posted the petitions for November 29.
A bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and C T Ravikumar said, “In the counter affidavit, series of judgments have been quoted. When we were looking into the counter affidavit, a series of judgments were coming forward. We didn’t know what was the factual statement and where was the application of mind.”
Addressing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Justice Rastogi said he has not come across a counter affidavit where a series of judgments have been quoted. Mehta concurred, saying it could have been avoided. The Gujarat government in its 477-page affidavit had told the SC that the state decided to release the 11 convicts on completion of their 14 years sentence as their “behaviour was found to be good” and after approval from the Central government. It added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons,
Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. It questioned the locus of the petitioners, saying third-party strangers should be precluded from questioning a remission order passed in accordance with the law.