Bilkis Bano case: The Supreme Court’s request for documents regarding the remission of convictions in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case is expected to be challenged by the federal government and the state of Gujarat. Invoking “privilege,” the government has suggested it does not want to release the records related to the case’s 11 convicts’ sentence reduction.
Supreme Court ordered the centre and the state of Gujarat to produce the documents
Ms. Bano, whose family of seven also lost seven members to the Gujarat riots of 2002, petitioned the Supreme Court in November of last year to protest what she deemed the state government’s “premature” release of the 11 offenders. She claimed that the sentence reduction has “shaken society’s conscience.” On March 27, the Supreme Court ordered the centre and the state of Gujarat to produce the documents used to commute their sentences. When asked about the 11 prisoners’ remission during their detention, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said the state should have taken the seriousness of the offence into consideration.
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Court also questioned the Gujarat government
“Several people were killed, including a pregnant woman who was gang raped. You cannot relate the victim’s situation to typical Section 302 (murder) cases under Indian law. Like you cannot compare apples with oranges, neither can you compare a massacre to a single murder. The majority of crimes are against the community and society. Unfairness prevents treating people equally, the Supreme Court ruled. On May 2, the Supreme Court will consider many petitions contesting the remission of the convictions. It commanded any prisoners who hadn’t received notice to give their responses. The murder of Bilkis Bano’s family members and the gang rape case were described as “horrendous” acts by the Supreme Court on March 27. The court also questioned the Gujarat government on whether uniform standards, as used in other murder cases, were utilised for giving remission to the 11 convicts.
Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant
When Ms. Bano was gang-raped while escaping the riots that started following the Godhra train burning event, she was 21 years old and five months pregnant. One of the seven members of her family that perished was her three-year-old daughter. One of the 11 men seeking the cancellation of his sentence was spotted sharing the platform at a government event in Gujarat last month with a BJP MP and an MLA.
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