Ashish Ranjan
Bilkis Bano case: Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced that a special bench will be formed to hear the petition submitted by Bilkis Bano challenging the early release on remission granted to eleven convicts in the case of rape and murder during the Gujarat riots of 2002.
A bench commanded by the CJI DY Chandrachud stated that it would assign a date for the case’s listing today after Bano’s attorney requested an urgent hearing.Bano’s attorney, Shobha Gupta, noted that the case was also mentioned by her in February, but it has not yet been listed.
“A specific bench must be established. I’ll request that the registrar approach Justice Rastogi for a date. Today, we’ll ask them for a date,” the CJI said.In accordance with the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy, eleven life-sentenced convicts were released in August after their application for remission of the sentence was approved.
These eleven lifers were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 for the rape and murder of Bilkis Bano’s family members.Since the release of the prisoners, numerous petitions have been submitted with the Supreme Court and are currently being heard.
On August 25, 2022, a bench commanded by former CJI NV Ramana issued a notice regarding the first petition. The matter is currently being heard by a panel presided over by Justice Ajay Rastogi.
In these petitions, the Gujarat government filed an affidavit informing the Supreme Court that these 11 convicts were released after completing a 14-year sentence on the basis of good behaviour and with the sanction of the central government.
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Justice Bela Trivedi recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s appeal and other petitions challenging the early release of convicts in her case when the cases were enumerated last.
