Bilkis Bano Case: Kin Of One Convict Says He Will Surrender Tomorrow As SC Denies Relief

After SC denied relief to convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, the kin of one of the convicts said that he would surrender in the evening on Sunday.

Bilkis Bano Case: A relative of one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case said on Saturday that he will surrender on the evening of January 21, the deadline set by the Supreme Court, as reported by news agency PTI. This comes a day after the apex court dismissed a plea by the convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, seeking an extension of time to surrender.

On January 8, the apex court quashed the Gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to the convicts and ordered the 11 men to go back to jail within two weeks. After the decision, five of the convicts moved the SC seeking more time to surrender on various grounds, including failing health, impending surgery, son’s marriage and harvesting crops, as reported by PTI. The SC on Friday dismissed their applications, observing that the reasons had no merit.

The convicts belong to Singvad and Randhikpur villages in Singvad taluka of Dahod district in Gujarat. They are required to surrender at Godhra sub-jail in Panchmahal district on Sunday.

Speaking to PTI, a relative of Shailesh Bhatt, one of the convicts, said that he would surrender before the Godhra jail authorities on Sunday evening. The top court had on January 8 annulled the remission granted to the convicts by the Gujarat government in the high-profile case, slamming the state for “usurpation of power”.

The convicts were granted premature release on August 15, 2022 after the Gujarat government accepted their remission applications in accordance with its 1992 policy, citing their ‘good conduct’ in jail.

On Friday, the police in Dahod district said that the men were under “police watch” and not missing, as claimed by some media reports, PTI reported. The police stated that the convicts had been contacted and it did not appear that they had any intention of going incommunicado.

The convicts – Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana and Shailesh Bhatt – had been in jail for 14 years before their release in August 2022. Bilkis Bano had filed a petition challenging the state’s decision.

The top court quashed the remission order, ruling that the Gujarat government lacked jurisdiction to grant premature release to the convicts as the trial had been held in Maharashtra.