The Supreme Court on Monday said that the Gujarat government had no authority to remit the sentences of 11 convicts in the case of the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape and murder of seven of her family members. The court said that the government of the State where the offender is sentenced is the appropriate government to grant remission. "On this ground alone (that Gujarat Govt lacked competence), the writ petitions are liable to be allowed and the orders are liable to be declared as nullity," the bench said.


Bilkis Bano Case: A Timeline



  • In March 2002, during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat, Bilkis Bano, who was then five-month pregnant, was allegdlyh gangraped and seven of her family members killed by a group of men. Bilkis then moved the Supreme Court which directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to undertake an inquiry into the matter.


 



  • In 2004, the central agency nabbed all the 13 suspects. Bikils meanwhile urged the court to transfer the case to Bombay from Ahmedabad. Then, in 2008, the trial court found 13 men guilty of crime sentencing 13 to death.


 



  • Three years later, as per an Outlook report, the CBI requested the Bombay High Court for a death sentence for the convicts. The plea was deliberated upon in 2016 and in May 2017 upheld the death sentences of 11 individuals. 


 



  • One of the prisoners, Radheshyam Shah filed a plea in the Gujarat High Court in May 2022 seeking remission. The court said that 'appropriate government' would determine the case -- which is Maharashtra and not Gujarat.


 



  • Later, Shah moved the top court after which the SC directed the Gujarat government to examine the matter. Subsequently, the Gujarat government established a committee under the leadership of Panchmahal Collector Sujal Mayatra to address the issue. 


 



  • On August 15, 2022, the Gujarat government allowed the release of all eleven convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang rape case from the state's Godhra sub-jail. 


 



  • Bilkis filed a review petition challenging the top court's order asking the Gujarat government to examine the release of one of the convicts according to the 1992 remission policy of the Gujarat government. 


 



  • Later, Bilkis and many others filed separate pleas challenging the remission order and an extensive hearing on the same took place in April 2023. During the hearing, the Supreme Court questioned the parole given to the 11 convicts saying the gravity of the offence should have been considered by the state. "Apples cannot be compared with oranges, similarly massacre cannot be compared with single murder," the court said.


 



  • The Supreme Court said the State governments can’t be selective in granting remission to convicts and the opportunity to reform and reintegrate with society should be given to every prisoner as the Gujarat government defended its decision of premature release of all 11 convicts.


 



  • The top court then reserved the verdict on October 2023 which it pronounced on Monday (Jan 8).