Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that the Maharashtra government should not give any relief to the 11 convicts of Bilkis Bano case.
“The Maharashtra government should not give any relief. This was a serious and heinous crime. Seven people died. What this woman (Bilkis) suffered, the kind of atrocities she had to endure… She had seven of her relatives killed,” Sharad Pawar said while reacting to Monday’s Supreme Court order in the Bilkis Bano case.
Pawar urged the Maharashtra government to take this case ‘seriously’. “I feel the Maharashtra government would not ignore the seriousness of the case and the heinous manner in which the crime was committed… What the Supreme Court has said has to be done.”
When asked whether the Maharashtra government, which is also ruled by BJP, could follow Gujarat’s example and again grant remission to the convicts, Pawar said, “While the government has taken political decisions, this time I believe they will take this case seriously.” Pawar, however, appealed to both the chief minister and deputy chief minister (Devendra Fadnavis) “to take this case seriously”.
“I have just one suggestion to the chief minister and the deputy chief minister. The crime against the woman cannot be ignored and the state should go by the SC verdict in the case. We expect that there should be no political bias in the decision the state government would take… A message should be sent to those indulging in atrocities that such kind of crimes will not be tolerated by society, the political system and the judiciary,” Pawar said.The NCP president lauded the SC decision saying that the people were happy with the verdict.