The Supreme Court on Monday, August 7, will begin the final hearing on a bunch of petitions challenging the remission awarded to all 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and the death of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots last year.
"We hold that pleadings in the matter are complete and all the respondents have been served notices in all the cases though newspaper publications or directly. We list the matter for final hearing on August 7. All parties should file short written submissions, synopsis and list of dates," the bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had stated earlier.
The Supreme Court had postponed the hearing on May 9 due to unfulfilled procedural formalities caused by the failure to serve notices to some of the convicts. It had ordered that convicts who were unable to be served with notifications be served through the publication of notices in Gujarati and English newspapers.
The Gujarat government awarded remission to all 11 convicts and freed them on August 15, last year.
Bano has filed a writ suit in order to challenge the remissions.
Several more PILs have been filed against the remission, including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul, and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma.
What Is Bilkis Bano Case?
Gujarat had become violent following the burning of the Sabarmati railway in Godhra on February 27, 2002. In the train, 59 karsevaks were slain.
Fearing for her life, a five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano escaped her hometown of Randhikpur with her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and 15 other family members.
They sought safety in the district of Chhaparvad. On March 3, however, they were ambushed by a group of 20-30 individuals armed with sickles, swords, and clubs. The 11 accused guys were among the assailants.
Bilkis, her mother, and three other women were viciously attacked and raped. Eight of the 17 Muslims from Radhikpur village were found dead, while six were missing.
According to several reports, Bilkis regained consciousness three hours after the assault and made her way to the Limkheda police station to file a complaint after borrowing clothing from an adivasi lady.
Bilkis was only sent to a public hospital for a medical examination after arriving at the Godhra refugee camp. Her issue was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court, which ordered the CBI to investigate.