The plea filed by the Three out of Eleven convicts involved in the Bilkis Bano gangrape before the Supreme Court on Thursday, requesting an extension of the surrender deadline has been rejected by the Supreme Court and now all 11 of them are ordered to surrender by Sunday.
The Supreme Court rejected the application, stating that the reasons, including 'ill health,' 'harvest of winter crops,' and 'son's marriage,' do not warrant a delay in complying with the January 8 order to surrender within two weeks.
Senior Advocate V Chitambaresh, representing the three convicts, urgently requested the case to be listed, emphasising the approaching surrender deadline on January 21. Justice BV Nagarathna, from the original judgement bench, instructed the Registry to obtain orders from the Chief Justice of India to form a bench and schedule the case.
Justice Nagarathna stated that the bench, including herself and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, which delivered the judgement in the Bilkis Bano case, must handle the applications. The Supreme Court instructed its Registry to obtain orders from the Chief Justice of India to form the bench and schedule the case for Friday.
Photo: Bar&Bench
Last week, the Supreme Court intervened by overturning the Gujarat government's controversial move in August 2022 to prematurely release the 11 convicts, who were serving life terms for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
In a 251-page judgement, the Supreme Court stated that it is not under Gujarat government’s jurisdiction to handle requests for reducing sentences. The court emphasised that only the state government where the offenders were sentenced had the authority to review such applications and make decisions.
The 11 convicts released prematurely included Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana, and Shailesh Bhatt.
Earlier, On January 8, the Supreme Court nullified the Gujarat government's decision to reduce the sentences of the convicts, criticising the orders as "stereotyped" and lacking thoughtful consideration. The court accused the convicts of obtaining remission through a 'fraud' on the court.
Photo: X
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The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment but the Gujarat Government released them in August 2022 after they served 14 years of sentence.
Bilkis Bano, 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, suffered a brutal gang-rape while attempting to escape the communal riots following the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. Tragically, her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
(Inputs from Other Agencies)
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