Plea of Bilkis against grant of remission to convicts could not be heard in SC

New Delhi: The hearing on Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the gang-rape case by the Gujarat government, could not be held in the Supreme Court on Tuesday as the judges concerned were hearing a matter related to passive euthanasia as part of a five-judge Constitution bench.

The petition of Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family slaughtered during the 2002 Gujarat riots, was scheduled to be heard on Tuesday by a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar. However, Justices Rastogi and Ravikumar were busy hearing, as part of a Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph, the pleas seeking modification of guidelines on execution of a “Living Will” for permitting passive euthanasia.

A fresh date for hearing will now be notified by the apex court registry..

Bilkis Bano had moved the apex court on November 30, 2022 challenging the grant of remission of sentence to 11 convicts by the state government, saying their premature release has “shaken the conscience of society”.

Besides the plea challenging the release of the convicts, Bano had also filed a separate petition seeking a review of the apex court’s May 13, 2022 order on a plea by a convict.