NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned to October 11 the final hearing on pleas challenging the remission granted last year to all the 11 convicts in the gang-rape case of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the apex court has received written submissions of the petitioners and they have been taken on record. The court will conclude the hearing of the matter on the same day.
Eleven convicts were prematurely released on August 15, 2022, following a decision by the Gujarat government. While taking the batch of pleas challenging their release, the top court said it was only considering the “correctness” of the Gujarat government’s decision to release the convicts early.
Last month, the apex court observed whether the persons convicted in the Bilkis Bano case had the privilege of being released on parole for several days and several times. The top court had on August 17 said state governments should not be selective in granting remission to convicts and the opportunity to reform and reintegrate with society should be given to every prisoner.
The Gujarat government had defended its decision of premature release of all convicts. Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the communal riots that broke out in the state of Gujarat after the Godhra train-burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed by a mob during the riots.