Bilkis Bano Case: SC Dismisses Review Against Its May Judgment On Remission Policy

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed a review petition filed by Bilkis Bano challenging the apex court’s May 13 judgment, which held that remission of accused, who were convicted for gangrape and multiple murders, should be considered according to the policy existing at the time of their conviction in Gujarat as the crime was committed there.

The bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath dismissed Bano’s review petition filed through advocate Shobha Gupta.

In her review petition, Bano urged that Maharashtra’s remission policy should be followed in the present case, rather than the 1992 remission policy of Gujarat as the trial took place in Maharashtra.

The apex court’s judgment came on a petition filed by one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, seeking direction to Gujarat to consider his application for premature release under the 1992 policy, which existed at the time of his conviction.

Bano has filed another petition against the release of 11 men who were convicted of gang raping her during the 2002 Gujarat riots. These convicts were also accused of multiple murders. The petition said that the release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, her grown-up daughters, her family, but also to the society at large, nationally, and internationally.

The plea read: “The premature release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, to her grown up daughters, to her family, but also to the society at large, nationally and internationally, and the society across segments had shown their anger, disappointment, distrust and protest to the clemency shown by the government by releasing criminals like the 11 convicts of the case.”

On December 13, Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi recused herself from hearing the petition filed by Bano.

Now, the matter will be listed before another bench of the Supreme Court for hearing.

Bano said she was extremely hurt, disturbed, and full of dejection with the early release and presence of the 11 men who brutally gang raped her while she was five months pregnant.