New Delhi, Dec.17: In a setback for Bilkis Bano, the Supreme Court on Saturday dismissed the review petition filed by her seeking to review the May 2022 judgment which held that the Gujarat government had the jurisdiction to decide the convict’s remission.
The convicts were sentenced to life for gang rape and murder during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The Gujarat government had released the convicts under its remission and premature release policy on August 15 when one of the convicts moved his plea to the SC.
In May 2022, a bench comprising Justice Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath had ruled that the Gujarat government had the jurisdiction to consider the remission request as the incident took place in Gujarat, reported Live Law.
The bench also directed the government to decide the application as per the remission policy of 1992 within a period of two months.
The Gujarat High Court had earlier held the remission had to be considered by the State of Maharashtra, as the trial was held in Mumbai, upon transfer from Gujarat, reported Live Law.
Bilkis’s lawyer Shobha Gupta had sought a review of the judgment contrary to Section 432(7) (b) of CrPC which states that the appropriate government to decide remission is the government of the State where the trial was held.
Also, it was pointed out that Supreme Court passed the judgment in a writ petition filed by one of the convicts.
Bilkis also stated that the convict had “cleverly suppressed” the fact that the case related to the Gujarat riots, reported Live law. Neither was Bilkis made a party nor was her name mentioned in the petition.
She had also challenged the decision of the Gujarat government to allow the premature release of the 11 convicts.
#gujrat government #bilkis banu #pitition
