NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed a plea by Bilkis Bano to review its judgement in May which allowed the Gujarat government to prematurely release 11 convicts serving life sentence for raping her and killing her family members during the 2002 pogroms.

A bench comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Vikram Nath dismissed Ms Bano’s review petition by circulation in the chambers. In its May 13 judgement, a bench led by Justice Ajay Rastogi had concluded that Gujarat was the “appropriate government” under Section 432 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to decide the remission of the convicts in the case.

Refusing permission sought by Ms Bano’s lawyer Shobha Gupta for an open court hearing, the bench said: “In our opinion no case for review is made out. None of the judgements on which reliance has been placed are of any assistance to the review petitioner. The review petition is accordingly dismissed.”

The judgement in May was pronounced on the basis of an application filed by one of the convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, for premature release in terms of its remission policy of July 9, 1992. The 1992 policy was prevalent on the date of conviction.

Another plea by the victim awaits hearing

Ms Bano argued that the early release of the convicts amounted to a violation of her fundamental right to life. She said that the remission policy of the state of Maharashtra, where the trial happened, and not Gujarat, would have governed the case.

A simultaneously filed writ petition by Ms Bano is yet to be heard by the court.

Recently, one of the judges on the bench, Justice Bela Trivedi, had recused. The writ petition has been referred back to the Chief Justice of India for listing before another bench.

Others like CPI-M leader Subhashini Ali and TMC leader Mahua Moitra have also challenged the early release of the convicts in separate petitions. Their petitions were last heard by Justice Rastogi’s bench on Oct 18.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2022