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Tag: Bilkis Bano gangrape

  • Justice Bela Trivedi recuses from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging release of rapists

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on  Tuesday recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 rapists who walked free on August 15, 2022.

    When the bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.

    “List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member,” the bench ordered. The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.

    In her plea against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bano has said the state government passed a “mechanical order” completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

    Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    Stating that the paper for premature release of the convicts was not shared with her despite reminders, Bano in her petition said, “The Supreme Court already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.”

    As the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated, she wrote in her petition. The petitioner further wrote that this ‘celebration’ was how she along with the nation came to know about the “premature release of all the convicts of one of the most gruesome crimes this country has ever seen.”

    Women’s rights activist Subhashini Ali has also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

    The Gujarat government in their response stated that the state decided to release the 11 convicts as their “behaviour was found to be good”, and after approval from the central government.

    ALSO READ | Will fight again, against what is wrong: Bilkis on remission given to her rapists

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. 

    Bilkis has also sought a review of the top court’s May 13 order (passed by the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath) where the court while considering a writ petition by one of the convicts Radhey Shyam had directed the Gujarat government to consider releasing him on the basis of the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy within two months.

    The 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts.

    Bilkis Bano’s review plea was also heard in the chambers on Tuesday. The order, however, hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

    A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. It was then upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

    The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

    NEW DELHI: Supreme Court judge Justice Bela M Trivedi on  Tuesday recused herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 rapists who walked free on August 15, 2022.

    When the bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi took up the matter for hearing, Justice Rastogi said that his sister judge will not like to hear the case.

    “List the matter before a bench in which one of us is not a member,” the bench ordered. The bench did not specify any reason for the recusal of justice Trivedi.

    In her plea against the grant of remission which had led to the release of the convicts on August 15, Bano has said the state government passed a “mechanical order” completely ignoring the requirement of law as laid down by the Supreme Court.

    Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    Stating that the paper for premature release of the convicts was not shared with her despite reminders, Bano in her petition said, “The Supreme Court already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime.”

    As the nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Day, all the convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare and sweets were circulated, she wrote in her petition. The petitioner further wrote that this ‘celebration’ was how she along with the nation came to know about the “premature release of all the convicts of one of the most gruesome crimes this country has ever seen.”

    Women’s rights activist Subhashini Ali has also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

    The Gujarat government in their response stated that the state decided to release the 11 convicts as their “behaviour was found to be good”, and after approval from the central government.

    ALSO READ | Will fight again, against what is wrong: Bilkis on remission given to her rapists

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. 

    Bilkis has also sought a review of the top court’s May 13 order (passed by the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath) where the court while considering a writ petition by one of the convicts Radhey Shyam had directed the Gujarat government to consider releasing him on the basis of the Gujarat government’s 1992 remission policy within two months.

    The 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts.

    Bilkis Bano’s review plea was also heard in the chambers on Tuesday. The order, however, hasn’t been uploaded yet. 

    A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. It was then upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

    The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.

  • Will fight again, against what is wrong: Bilkis Bano on remission given to her rapists

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: “I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right,” said Bilkis Bano, who has moved the Supreme Court challenging the remission and release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case related to her gangrape and murder of seven members of her family.

    Bano was 21 years old and five-month pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.

    Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    In her two separate petitions, she has challenged the premature release of the convicts by the Gujarat government on August 15, saying it has “shaken the conscience of society”.

    In a statement, issued on Thursday, she said, “The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time, after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb. I was paralysed with shock and with fear for my children, my daughters, and above all, paralysed by loss of hope.”

    She added, “But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair; and made me feel less alone in my pain. I cannot express in words what this support has meant to me.”

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    Bano said the support to her cause from different parts of the country has helped her in rekindling her faith in humanity and renewed her courage to believe again in the idea of justice.

    “So, I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right. I do this today for myself, for my children, and for women everywhere”, she said.

    NEW DELHI: “I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right,” said Bilkis Bano, who has moved the Supreme Court challenging the remission and release of 11 convicts in the 2002 case related to her gangrape and murder of seven members of her family.

    Bano was 21 years old and five-month pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the 2002 Gujarat riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident.

    Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.

    In her two separate petitions, she has challenged the premature release of the convicts by the Gujarat government on August 15, saying it has “shaken the conscience of society”.

    In a statement, issued on Thursday, she said, “The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time, after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb. I was paralysed with shock and with fear for my children, my daughters, and above all, paralysed by loss of hope.”

    She added, “But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair; and made me feel less alone in my pain. I cannot express in words what this support has meant to me.”

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    Bano said the support to her cause from different parts of the country has helped her in rekindling her faith in humanity and renewed her courage to believe again in the idea of justice.

    “So, I will stand and fight again, against what is wrong and for what is right. I do this today for myself, for my children, and for women everywhere”, she said.

  • SC to consider listing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of her rapists

    By Online Desk

    The Supreme Court will consider hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 men convicted of gang-raping her in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Bano, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Gupta contended that chances were slim that the bench led by justice Ajay Rastogi would be able to hear the matter, as he was now a part of a constitution bench hearing.

    Bano has also moved a review petition against the apex court judgment allowing the Gujarat government to decide on the remission of the convicts.

    ALSO READ: Bilkis Bano case convict was booked for outraging woman’s modesty while on parole in 2020

    The Chief Justice said that the review has to be heard first and let it come before Justice Rastogi. Gupta submitted that the matter had to be heard in an open court. The Chief Justice said only the court can decide that, and added that he will decide on the listing after looking into the matter this evening.

    In May this year, the apex court had ruled that the Gujarat government can consider the remission request as the offence took place in Gujarat. Based on this ruling, the Gujarat government decided to release all 11 convicts.

    The high court had held that the Maharashtra government should consider the remission since the trial in the case was conducted there after the transfer from Gujarat.

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    (With online desk inputs)

    The Supreme Court will consider hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the release of 11 men convicted of gang-raping her in the 2002 Gujarat riots.

    Advocate Shobha Gupta, representing Bano, mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud. Gupta contended that chances were slim that the bench led by justice Ajay Rastogi would be able to hear the matter, as he was now a part of a constitution bench hearing.

    Bano has also moved a review petition against the apex court judgment allowing the Gujarat government to decide on the remission of the convicts.

    ALSO READ: Bilkis Bano case convict was booked for outraging woman’s modesty while on parole in 2020

    The Chief Justice said that the review has to be heard first and let it come before Justice Rastogi. Gupta submitted that the matter had to be heard in an open court. The Chief Justice said only the court can decide that, and added that he will decide on the listing after looking into the matter this evening.

    In May this year, the apex court had ruled that the Gujarat government can consider the remission request as the offence took place in Gujarat. Based on this ruling, the Gujarat government decided to release all 11 convicts.

    The high court had held that the Maharashtra government should consider the remission since the trial in the case was conducted there after the transfer from Gujarat.

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    (With online desk inputs)

  • Bilkis Bano approaches Supreme Court challenging release of 11 convicts

    Express News Service

    Bilkis Bano has approached Supreme Court challenging top court’s May 13, 2022 ruling, as per which the bench has asked the Gujarat government to consider pre mature release of the convicts on the basis of 1992 policy. 

    Five-months pregnant Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter Saleha was among the 14 people killed by a mob in Dahod on March 3, 2002, in communal riots that consumed Guiarat following the death of 59 passengers, mainly ‘Kar Sevaks’, when the Sabarmati Express was set on fire.

    Urging the bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud to list her plea, Advocate Shobha Gupta submitted that the plea should be heard in open court.  Gupta also told the bench that Bilkis has filed a writ petition challenging the release of the 11 convicts who had gangraped and murdered seven members of her family during the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat. 

    Considering her submissions, CJI DY Chandrachud said that he would examine the issue of whether both the pleas can be heard together and if it could be heard before the same bench. 

    Bilkis in her review plea, has stated that the appropriate government in this case would not be the State of Gujarat but the State of Maharashtra. The plea also states that remission policy of the state of Maharashtra would govern this case. Gujarat government’s 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts. 

    ALSO READ: Bilkis Bano case convict was booked for outraging woman’s modesty while on parole in 2020

    SC’s May 13 verdict had come in case of RadheyShyam, one of the convicts in the case, who had then completed 15 years and 4 months of custody.

    A bench of Justices, Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath, while directing the Gujarat government to consider his plea seeking pre­mature release in terms of its policy dated 9th July, 1992 within a period of two months in their order had said, 

    “In the instant case, once the crime was committed in the State of Gujarat, after the trial has been concluded and judgment of conviction came to be passed, all further proceedings have to be considered including remission or pre­mature release, as the case may be, in terms of the policy which is applicable in the State of Gujarat where the crime was committed and not the State where the trial stands transferred and concluded for exceptional reasons under the orders of this Court.”

    Apart from Bilkis, women’s rights activists including Subhashini Ali have also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. 

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    The plea challenging the remission becomes significant against the backdrop of objections put forth by the Gujarat government as well as the accused that had questioned the locus of the women rights activists challenging their release. 

    The Gujarat government in its 477 page affidavit had told the SC that the state decided to release the 11 convicts on completion of their 14 years sentence as their “behaviour was found to be good” and after approval from the central government.

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. The state also asserted that third party strangers were precluded from questioning a remission order passed by the State government which is strictly in accordance with law. 

    Bilkis Bano has approached Supreme Court challenging top court’s May 13, 2022 ruling, as per which the bench has asked the Gujarat government to consider pre mature release of the convicts on the basis of 1992 policy. 

    Five-months pregnant Bano was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter Saleha was among the 14 people killed by a mob in Dahod on March 3, 2002, in communal riots that consumed Guiarat following the death of 59 passengers, mainly ‘Kar Sevaks’, when the Sabarmati Express was set on fire.

    Urging the bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud to list her plea, Advocate Shobha Gupta submitted that the plea should be heard in open court.  Gupta also told the bench that Bilkis has filed a writ petition challenging the release of the 11 convicts who had gangraped and murdered seven members of her family during the 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat. 

    Considering her submissions, CJI DY Chandrachud said that he would examine the issue of whether both the pleas can be heard together and if it could be heard before the same bench. 

    Bilkis in her review plea, has stated that the appropriate government in this case would not be the State of Gujarat but the State of Maharashtra. The plea also states that remission policy of the state of Maharashtra would govern this case. Gujarat government’s 1992 policy did not prohibit the remission of rape, gang rape or murder convicts. 

    ALSO READ: Bilkis Bano case convict was booked for outraging woman’s modesty while on parole in 2020

    SC’s May 13 verdict had come in case of RadheyShyam, one of the convicts in the case, who had then completed 15 years and 4 months of custody.

    A bench of Justices, Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath, while directing the Gujarat government to consider his plea seeking pre­mature release in terms of its policy dated 9th July, 1992 within a period of two months in their order had said, 

    “In the instant case, once the crime was committed in the State of Gujarat, after the trial has been concluded and judgment of conviction came to be passed, all further proceedings have to be considered including remission or pre­mature release, as the case may be, in terms of the policy which is applicable in the State of Gujarat where the crime was committed and not the State where the trial stands transferred and concluded for exceptional reasons under the orders of this Court.”

    Apart from Bilkis, women’s rights activists including Subhashini Ali have also challenged the release of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. 

    ALSO READ | Bilkis Bano case: Convicts released for good behaviour, Gujarat govt to SC

    The plea challenging the remission becomes significant against the backdrop of objections put forth by the Gujarat government as well as the accused that had questioned the locus of the women rights activists challenging their release. 

    The Gujarat government in its 477 page affidavit had told the SC that the state decided to release the 11 convicts on completion of their 14 years sentence as their “behaviour was found to be good” and after approval from the central government.

    It also added that the opinions of the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat State, Jail Superintendents, Jail Advisory Committee, District Magistrate, Police Superintendent, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and Hon. Sessions Court, Mumbai (CBI) were considered. The state also asserted that third party strangers were precluded from questioning a remission order passed by the State government which is strictly in accordance with law.