Bilkis Banu, Bilkis Banu Case: Supreme Court Notice to Gujarat, Central Governments! – supreme court notice to gujarat over convicts release on bilkis bano case

Bilgis Bhanu was gang-raped by a pregnant mob during the 2002 riots that followed the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Bilgis Banu’s 3-year-old daughter was snatched away from her by the mob and beaten to death on a nearby stone. The mob also killed 14 members of his family. This incident caused a lot of shocks across the country.

In this long-running case, 11 accused were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008. In 2003, the Gujarat Criminal Court concluded that there was insufficient evidence in the case. Bilgis Banu went to the Supreme Court with the help of the National Human Rights Commission. The Supreme Court ordered the CBI to probe the case and transfer the case from Gujarat to Maharashtra. In 2008, a special court in Mumbai awarded life imprisonment to 11 accused in the case (one of the 12 died).

In this situation, 11 life prisoners related to the Bilgis Banu case were released by the Gujarat government on the 15th. The Gujarat state government announced that the life sentence has been completed for 14 years and based on the Supreme Court’s opinion on the recommendation of the Prison Advisory Committee, taking into consideration age, nature of the crime, conduct in prison, etc. They were welcomed with sweets when they were freed. BJP MLA has expressed the controversial opinion that freed people are Brahmins. Their release has sparked nationwide protests.

“The government also has the power to grant amnesty to criminals. But before taking a decision you have to think about all the factors otherwise the decision will not be correct. I don’t know if they followed procedures in this matter or not. They should have asked the people who investigated this case. I have not been asked anything about it. Whoever made this decision should reconsider.” Former Bombay High Court judge UT Salvi, who ruled in the Bilgis Banu case, said.

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Meanwhile, three people including Marxist leader Subashini Ali filed a case in the Supreme Court against the Gujarat government’s sentence reduction for all 11 people. Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and Advocate Aparna Bhat appeared for the petitioners. The trial is being conducted before a bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath. Accordingly, during the hearing of the case held today, the Supreme Court has sent a notice to the Gujarat State Government and the Central Government. Further, the trial has been adjourned for 2 weeks.

During the trial, the Supreme Court did not order the release of all 11 people in the Bilgis Banu case. One of the convicts in the Bilgis Banu case had filed a case in the Supreme Court seeking commutation of sentence. The Gujarat government was directed to consider his plea under the 1992 commutation policy, which was in force when he was convicted. In this case, we order the central government and the Gujarat government to issue a notice to respond accordingly.” Chief Justice NV Ramana said.