New Delhi: Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court against the early release of 11 men convicted for gang-raping Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots and killing 14 members of her family. All 11 convicts were recently granted remission by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Gujarat.
Another petition on the same matter was also filed by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist and filmmaker Revati Laul and former philosophy professor and activist Roop Rekh Varma, Bar and Bench reported.
“The release completely fails to bolster either social or human justice and does not constitute a valid exercise of the guided discretionary power of the State under Sections 432-435 Cr.P.C.,” LiveLaw quoted Moitra’s petition as saying. She added that the victim had very legitimate fears over her safety after the men’s release.
The public interest litigation also claims that since the case was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Gujarat government was not in a position to grant remission without the Union government’s permission.
Also, by granting remission to all 11 convicts, the government had mechanically granted “wholesale” release without looking at the particulars, Moitra’s petition alleged. “This vitiates the entire exercise of granting remission and is squarely in violation of this Hon’ble Court’s judgments in Maru Ram v. Union of India, 1980 AIR SC 2147 and Sangeet v. State of Haryana, (2013) 2 SCC 452,” the petition continued.
Also read: Bilkis Bano, Mallika Begum and a Tale of Two Riots
Ali, Laul and Varma’s petition was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana and Justices Hima Kohli and C.T. Ravikumar by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Aparna Bhat, Bar and Bench reported. The petitioners requested that the case be heard on Wednesday, but the court has not listed it yet.
A controversial release
The 11 men were convicted of the crime and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008 after the Supreme Court decided to hand over investigation of the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation following a complaint from the National Human Rights Commission that the Gujarat police – which reported to then chief minister Narendra Modi – was protecting the accused. The apex court also agreed with the NHRC’s request that the case be tried in Maharashtra since the Gujarat government could not be counted upon to ensure a fair trial.
Last Wednesday, the 11 men walked free following the Gujarat government’s decision to release them. One of the men on the panel that recommended the release – BJP MLA C.K. Raulji – referred to the rapists as “Brahmins” who have “good sanskar (values)”. While the Gujarat government says the convicts were released as per its 1992 policy, experts say many other factors should have convinced the authorities to reject the applications.
Over 6,000 people – including hundreds of women’s rights activists – have urged the Supreme Court to revoke the decision to grant the convicts remission of their sentence.
“When I heard that the 11 convicted men who devastated my family and my life, and took from me my 3 year old daughter, had walked free. I was bereft of words. I am still numb,” Bilkis said after the release.
“Today, I can say only this – how can justice for any woman end like this? I trusted the highest courts in our land. I trusted the system, and I was learning slowly to live with my trauma. The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice. My sorrow and my wavering faith is not for myself alone but for every woman who is struggling for justice in courts.”
What happened
After the violence erupted following the burning of a Sabarmati Express coach that killed 59 ‘karsevaks ‘on February 27, 2002, Bilkis Bano, who was five-month pregnant at that time, fled her village with her toddler daughter and 15 others.
On March 3, they took shelter in a field when a mob of 20-30 people armed with sickles, swords and sticks attacked them and Bilkis Bano was gang raped, while seven members of her family were killed. Six other members managed to run away.
Given the outrage over the incident, the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe.
The accused in the case were arrested in 2004.
Also read: ‘Wrong; Very Bad Precedent Set’: Judge Who Convicted 11 Men in Bilkis Bano Case on Their Release
The trial began in Ahmedabad. However, after Bilkis Bano expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and the evidence collected by the CBI tampered with, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Mumbai in August 2004.
The special CBI court on January 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano’s family. They were convicted on charges of conspiring to rape a pregnant woman, murder and unlawful assembly under the Indian Penal Code.
The special court acquitted seven other accused for want of evidence. One of the accused had died during the trial.
In its 2018 order upholding the conviction of the accused persons, the Bombay high court set aside the acquittal of seven persons.
The Supreme Court, in April 2019, directed the Gujarat government to pay Rs 50 lakh compensation, a job, and a house to Bilkis Bano. At the time, others who had been victims of serious violence during the communal riots in Gujarat saw this judgment as a ray of hope. However, that hope now appears to have been extinguished by the convicts’ release.