Supreme Court rejects Gujarat govt's plea to remove criticisms against it in Bilkis Bano case

The state requested the removal of certain remarks against it in the apex court's order overruling the premature release of 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Gujarat government plea highlighted the court's observation that it had "acted in collusion and colluded with the convicts".

The state government stated the comment to be inappropriate and against the record of the case, and also biased against the petitioner.

However disagreeing with the argument, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan sad: "Having carefully gone through the Review Petitions, the order under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the Review Petitions, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned."

Earlier in July, the top court had dismissed interim bail petitions filed by two convicts - Radheyshyam Bhagwandas and Rajubhai Babulal.

The court also noted convicts could only be released by the state that tried them in the first place; which is Maharashtra in this case. "The exercise of power by the state of Gujarat is an instance of usurpation of power and abuse of power," the court had said.

In passing this order the court also came down heavily on its judgment of May 2022, delivered by Justice Ajay Rastogi (retired), which allowed the convicts to appeal to the Gujarat government for their early remission.

The convicts got the order "through fraudulent means", the judges said. They also noted that the Gujarat government should have sought a review of the 2022 order.

The convicts were released by Gujarat on grounds of an obsolete 1992 remission policy, which has since been superseded by a law in 2014 that prohibits the release of convicts in cases of capital offence.

The convicts were given a hero's welcome, with garlands and sweets, and they were seen sharing the stage with a BJP MP and an MLA. Convict Radheshyam Shah even started practicing law, the Supreme Court was told during an 11-day hearing last year of petitions, including one by Bilkis Bano.

Bano was 21 years old and was five months pregnant when she was gang raped. The 11 convicts allegedly killed seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the 2002 Gujarat riots.