NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on Tuesday recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 rapists who walked free on August 15, 2022.
When the bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.
"List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member," the bench ordered. The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.
In her plea against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bano has said the state government passed a "mechanical order" completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.
Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
Stating that the paper for premature release of the convicts was not shared with her despite reminders, Bano in her petition said, “The Supreme Court already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.”
As the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated, she wrote in her petition. The petitioner further wrote that this 'celebration' was how she along with the nation came to know about the "premature release of all the convicts of one of the most gruesome crimes this country has ever seen."
Women's rights activist Subhashini Ali has also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.
The Gujarat government in their response stated that the state decided to release the 11 convicts as their "behaviour was found to be good", and after approval from the central government.
It also 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 Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered.
Bilkis has also sought a review of the top court’s May 13 order (passed by the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath) where the court while considering a writ petition by one of the convicts Radhey Shyam had directed the Gujarat government to consider releasing him on the basis of the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy within two months.
The 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts.
Bilkis Bano's review plea was also heard in the chambers on Tuesday. The order, however, hasn’t been uploaded yet.
A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. It was then upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.