New Delhi: The Supreme Court termed the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots as “horrific”. It asked the Gujarat government on Monday whether the same standards adopted in other murder cases were applied while granting immunity to the 11 convicts in the case.
The apex court also made it clear that it would not be swayed by emotions in the matter and would only look at the law. It also directed the Gujarat government to produce all relevant documents on April 18, the next date of the hearing.
Bilkis Bano has challenged the decision of premature release of the convicts. Bano was gang-raped and seven of her family members were murdered during the riots that broke out after the incident of arson of a compartment of the Sabarmati Express in Godhra, Gujarat. Bano has challenged the state government’s decision to waive off the rest of the sentence of 11 criminals convicted in the case.
Justice K. M. Joseph and Justice B.K. Fixing the matter for hearing on April 18, a bench of V. Nagaratna said that there are many issues involved in it and the matter needs to be heard in detail. The apex court issued notices to the Centre, the Gujarat government, and the convicts.
The bench directed the Gujarat government to be present during the next hearing with the relevant file regarding the decision on remission of the remaining sentence of the convicts. The court said during the hearing that it would consider various aspects of law in the matter instead of hearing it with emotions.
Significantly, on January 4, the matter came up before a bench of Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Bela M Trivedi, but Justice Trivedi recused himself from hearing the case without assigning any reason. All 11 convicts were given remission by the Gujarat government and they were released on August 15 last year. Bano, in her pending writ petition, has stated that the state government has passed a “mechanical order” in complete disregard of the law laid down by the Supreme Court; Passed it.
Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time of the incident. She was gang-raped and seven members of her family, including a three-year-old girl, were murdered during the riots that broke out after the incident of arson of a compartment of the Sabarmati Express train at Godhra.
