SC verdict on premature release of convicts today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is set to deliver its verdict on Monday, addressing petitions challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the 2002 Gujarat riots. These convicts were sentenced for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members.

On October 12, 2023, after an 11-day hearing, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan reserved its verdict on petitions challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. This included a petition filed by Bano herself.

Prior to reserving judgment, the court had directed the Centre and the Gujarat government to submit the original records of the convicts’ sentence remission by October 16. During a September hearing, the crucial question of whether convicts possess a fundamental right to seek remission was raised.

The court further emphasised that state governments should not be selective in granting remission, advocating for equal opportunity for reform and societal reintegration across all prisoners. Bano’s petition against the Gujarat government’s.decision alongside several Public Interest Litigations (PILs) backed the challenge, including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, journalist Revati Laul, and former Lucknow University VC Roop Rekha Verma.

TMC leader Mahua Moitra also filed a PIL contesting the remission and release on the grounds of their premature return. As a stark reminder of the crime, Bilkis Bano, five months pregnant at the time, was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members murdered during the violence.

All 11 convicts were released on August 15, 2022, following the Gujarat government’s remission grant.