Supreme Court sets aside Gujarat Government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano gang rape case

Supreme Court: In batch of pleas against the pre-mature release of 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment, who had gang raped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Gujarat Communal riots, the division bench of BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, JJ. set aside Gujarat Government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts and held that the Maharashtra Government and not the Gujarat Government was competent to pass the orders.

The Gujarat Government had released the 11 convicts on 15-08-2023 as the convicts have completed 14 years sentence in prison and due to their good behavior. Aggrieved by this, Bilkis Bano filed a petition against the premature release of the convicts.

Also read:

Bilkis Bano — Premature release of Convicts case: Supreme Court terms the crime committed by convicts as “Horrendous”; Issues notice to Central and Gujarat Governments

Pre-mature release of Bilkis Bano gangrape convict: Supreme Court’s May 2022 order; the review petition and its dismissal, explained.