Supreme Court reversed Gujarat government's order dated 2022, directed convicts to surrender within two weeks
The supreme court on monday reversed the gujarat government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts involved in the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 gujarat riots. Stating that the gujarat government had no jurisdiction to pass remission orders in the case, the apex court stated that the remission order was “obtained through fraudulent means and suspension of facts”. Holding Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the remission as ‘maintainable’, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the gujarat government had no jurisdiction to pass remission orders in the case. The top court stated that the orders of the remission were ‘stereotyped’ as the convicts didn’t approach the court with clean hands.The top court, while hearing a bunch of petitions against the gujarat government order, said that the state wasn’t competent to release the convicts as the trial, in this case, took place in Maharashtra, therefore it has the right to take a call on remission of sentence of the 11 convicts.Adding that the victim’s rights are important and that women deserve respect, Justice Nagarathna said, “A woman deserves respect, howsoever high or low, she may otherwise be considered in society or to whatever faith she may follow or whatever creed she may belong to. Can heinous crimes against women permit remission?” “Compassion and sympathy has no role to play where rule of law is to be enforced. This court must be a beacon in preserving rule of law,” the bench said.