Bilkis Bano filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, challenging the clemency of the 11 criminals who were released on August 15 of this year. After her counsel raised the subject before the CJI today, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated that he will look at the listing of the plea.
The early release of the 11 prisoners condemned to life in prison in the 2002 gangrape case received widespread condemnation, and multiple petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat government’s decision. While the cases are being reviewed, Bilkis Bano’s lawyer filed a writ petition on Wednesday opposing the sentence remission.
Gujarat freed all 11, dismissing strong objections from the CBI and a special judge.
The move would not have been possible if the Gujarat government had gone by the 2014 remission policy, which bars the early release of rape and murder convicts.
The affidavit also revealed that one of the convicts was booked for sexual harassment of a woman while he was out on parole in 2020.
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Election 2022, the issue was at the centre of a political row after BJP MLA CK Raulji threw his weight behind Bilkis Bano rapists and said some of the convicts were brahmins with good ‘sanskaar’.
In her petition, Bilkis Bano stated that the decision to release the men should be made by Maharashtra, where the trial was held, rather than Gujarat.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old when she was gang-raped by the men who murdered nine members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, during the Gujarat riots that erupted in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning, which killed 59 pilgrims.
