Bilkis Bano Case: The Gujarat government suffered a setback on Monday when the Supreme Court overturned a state order to free 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case. The court declared the judgement to be a “fraud act” and stated that it “was not competent” to make such a decision.
Judicial Pronouncement by Justices BV Nagarthana and Ujjal Bhuyan
The decision was made by a bench of Justices BV Nagarthana and Ujjal Bhuyan, who also declared that Bilkis Bano’s plea, which had contested the early release of eleven prisoners, was legitimate. The bench ruled that Maharashtra, the state in which the trial was held, was the proper government with the authority to issue directives for the early release of the convicted, and that the Gujarat government lacked the authority to do so.
Convicts’ Early Release Plea
“An application (for their early release) was filed by the convicts before the Government of Gujarat and the government is competent to consider it,” the Supreme Court observed. “The government of the state (Maharashtra) where the offender was sentenced is the appropriate government to grant remission and not the government of the state (Gujarat) where the offence took place,” it ruled.
2022 Supreme Court Judgement
In its 2022 judgement, the Supreme Court ordered the release of all 11 criminals after taking a strong stance against one of the prisoners and concealing important evidence. “By suppressing material facts and making misleading facts, a direction was sought by a convict to the state of Gujarat to consider remission. There was no direction from this court to the Gujarat government to consider remission. This is a fraud act,” the bench said.
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