Bilkis Bano approaches Supreme Court against remission of sentence for 11 convicts
New Delhi:
The Center and the Gujarat government may challenge the Supreme Court order seeking files on the release of convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.
Citing “privilege”, the government has indicated that it does not want to produce documents related to the remission of sentences of the 11 convicts in the case.
Ms Bano approached the Supreme Court in November last year over what she called the “premature” release of the 11 convicts by the state government. She said that the leniency has “shaken the conscience of the society”. Seven members of his family, including his three-year-old daughter, were also killed in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
On March 27, the Supreme Court had asked the Gujarat government and the Center to show the files used in the remission of sentence.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagaratna questioned the immunity granted to the 11 convicts during their imprisonment period and said the gravity of the offense can be considered by the State.
“A pregnant woman was gang-raped and several people were killed. You cannot compare the victim’s case with the standard Section 302 (murder) cases of the Indian Penal Code. Just like you cannot compare apples with oranges. Similarly, genocide cannot be compared with a single murder. Crimes are committed against society and community in general. Unequal people cannot be treated equally,” the Supreme Court said, reported news agency PTI. .
The Supreme Court said, “The question is whether the government applied its mind and what material formed the basis of its decision to grant exemption.” “Today it’s Bilkis but tomorrow it could be anyone. It could be you or me. If you don’t give your reasons for waiving, we’ll draw our own conclusions.”
The Supreme Court will hear the pleas challenging the immunity of the convicts on May 2. It ordered all the convicts, who have not been served notices, to send their replies.
On 27 March, the Supreme Court termed the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and the murder of her family members as a “horrific” act and questioned the Gujarat government whether the same standards were followed in other murder cases, which are murder. The same standards were applied as were applied in other cases. 11 convicts.
Ms. Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.
Last month, one of the 11 men was seen sharing the stage with a BJP MP and an MLA at a government event in Gujarat.