Today, the Supreme Court declined to entertain petitions from two men who had been convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano during the Gujarat riots of 2002.
The two convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas and Rajubhai Babulal Soni, had requested interim bail from the Court while awaiting a new decision on their petitions for remission (early release from prison).
However, a Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and PV Sanjay Kumar made it clear, without any ambiguity, that the convicts would not be granted such benefits.
"What is this plea? How is it even maintainable? Absolutely misconceived. How can in (Article) 32, we sit over appeal?" the Court asked.
The petition was eventually withdrawn by the two convicts.
In January this year, the Supreme Court had annulled the remission granted by the Gujarat government to all the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court determined that the remission policy applicable to the eleven convicts in the Bilkis Bano case was that of Maharashtra (where the trial was held), not Gujarat's. In other words, the Court ruled that Gujarat had no authority to apply its remission policy to these convicts. Consequently, the Court ordered the re-imprisonment of the convicts.
The Court also harshly criticized the Gujarat government, stating that the State had “acted in tandem and was complicit with the accused” by allowing their early release from prison. Review petitions challenging the validity of this verdict, filed by both the Gujarat government and the convicts, are currently pending before the Supreme Court. Advocate Rishi Malhotra represented the two convicts today. After the Court indicated that it was not inclined to allow this plea, the petitions were ultimately withdrawn.
Case Title: Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah @ Lala Vakil v. Union of India and anr
