Bilkis Bano case: Guj govt moves SC seeking review of verdict, says extreme observation unwarranted

NEW DELHI: The Gujarat government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the court’s verdict that quashed the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 riots, saying certain observations made against the state were unwarranted.

The Gujarat government has said the apex court’s observation in the January 8 judgment, holding the state guilty of “usurpation of power” and “abuse of discretion” for complying with an order of another top court bench, was an “error apparent on the face of the record” primarily on three grounds.

It has said another coordinate bench of the apex court had, in May 2022, held the state of Gujarat to be the “appropriate government” and directed the state to decide the remission application of one of the convicts in accordance with the remission policy of 1992.

According to the plea, in view of the “errors on the face of the record”, the apex court’s interference is imperative and it may be “pleased to review its impugned common final judgment and order dated January 8, 2024 ... to the extent as mentioned hereinabove”.

In its January 8 verdict, the apex court had quashed the remission granted to the 11 men convicted in the case and ordered that they be sent back to jail within two weeks.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was raped by the men while fleeing the horror of the communal riots that broke out in Gujarat after the Godhra train-burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among her seven family members killed. All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022.

Excoriating the Gujarat government, the apex court had said in its verdict that the state “usurped” the power of the Maharashtra government to grant remission to the convicts.