SC judge recuses from hearing plea against release of convicts

New Delhi: Supreme Court judge Bela M Trivedi on Tuesday recused herself from hearing a plea filed by Bilkis Bano, who was gang-raped and seven members of her family killed during the 2002 Gujarat riots, challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the case by the state government.

As soon as a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi sat for the day, Justice Rastogi announced his sister judge will not like to hear the case.

"List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member," the bench headed by Justice Rastogi ordered without specifying any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bilkis Bano, said her only predicament is that winter vacation of the court is approaching and she wants the matter to be heard at an earlier date.

The top court said that a new bench will be constituted and the matter will be taken up thereafter.

Gupta told the bench that when the matter is taken up, she would like to press her application seeking a stay of the remission order.

Bilkis Bano has also filed a separate plea seeking a review of the apex court's May 13, 2022 order on a petition by a convict in which it had asked the Gujarat government to consider premature release of the convicts in terms of its policy of July 9, 1992 about deciding a remission petition within a period of two months.

The review plea was also listed for consideration before a bench of Justices Rastogi and Vikram Nath at 1.30 pm in chambers. The order on the review plea is yet to be uploaded.

In her writ petition against the grant of remission, which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bilkis Bano has said the state government passed a mechanical order completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

"The enmasse premature release of the convicts in the much talked about case of Bilkis Bano, has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country," she said in the plea.