Gujarat HC Grants 10-Day Parole To Bilkis Bano Case Convict To Attend Nephew's Wedding

Gujarat High Court granted a 10-day parole to Ramesh Chandana, a convict in the Bilkis Bano case to attend his nephew's wedding on March 5.

The Gujarat High Court granted a 10-day parole to a convict in Bilkis Bano gang rape case for attending his nephew's wedding on March 5. He has now become the second convict in the case to be granted parole by the high court after all the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case surrendered on January 21 at Godhra sub-jail in Gujarat's Panchmahal district following an order by the Supreme Court. On February 5, another convict was granted a 5-day parole, after the death of his father-in-law, just 16 days after his surrender.

Ramesh Chandana moved the high court seeking parole last week, on the grounds of attending the marriage ceremony of his sister's son, news agency PTI reported.

11 men were convicted in a case for gang-raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter during the Godhra communal riots. She was just 21 years old and five months pregnant when the incident happened to her in 2002.

In an order issued on Friday, Justice Divyesh Joshi stated, "By this application, the convict-applicant prays for parole leave on the grounds of attending the marriage ceremony of the son of his sister. Taking into consideration the grounds urged in this application, the applicant-accused is ordered to be released on parole leave for ten days."

The Gujarat government's affidavit presented before the Supreme Court stated that the convict Chandana had enjoyed parole for 1,198 days and a furlough of 378 days since his incarceration in 2008. 

Previously, Pradip Modhiya, another individual convicted in the case, was granted parole from the Godhra jail from February 7 to 11 following the high court's approval of his parole plea.

In August 2022, eleven convicts who were serving life sentences were granted early release from prison. This decision came after the state government approved their applications for remission, under its 1992 policy. The release was attributed to their 'good conduct' during their time of imprisonment.

On January 8, the Supreme Court revoked the remission of sentence of all the convicts ruling that it was not under the state government's jurisdiction to grant premature release to the convicts, stressing that the trial in the case was held in Maharashtra.
Subsequently, the top court ordered that the 11 convicts who were released on Independence Day from Godhra district jail in 2022 after being incarcerated for 14 years, to return to the jail within 14 days.