Bilkis Bano case: SC’s Justice Bela Trivedi opts out of hearing
New Delhi, Dec 13 : One of the judges, Justice Bela M Trivedi, in the Supreme Court bench, hearing the Bilkis Bano review petition on Tuesday recused from hearing the plea, as the plea challenged the Gujarat govt’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts who had gangraped her and murdered her many family members during the horrific and brutal 2002 Godhra riots.
The other judge in the bench of the Supreme Court, was Justice Ajay Rastogi who was heading and hearing the Review Petition (RP) filed by Bilkis Bano.A RP is heard in the chamber of the judges of the Court and the same judges, earlier had passed the order/ verdict/ judgement in the matter.
Bilkis Bano had moved the Apex Court seeking open-Court hearing of her RP of the May 2022 order that had directed the Gujarat government to consider early release application of one of the convicts. The Supreme Court in its May 2022 order had directed the Gujarat Govt to decide on the release of one convict in terms of the 1992 remission policy. The Gujarat government had, ordered the release of 11 convicts of Bilkis on August 15, this year under this May order of the Apex Court.The premature release of the 11 convicts of Bilkis, in August 15, 2022, have triggered a massive nationwide outrage and protest, following which many petitions are filed before the Supreme Court, including Bilkis herself, many social activists, members of the civil society and other individuals.
The 11 men were convicted in 2008 for raping her and killing seven of her family members, including her daughter, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Bilkis on November 30, had knocked the doors of the Top Court and filed a RP against the premature release of 11 convicts sentenced to life term for her rape and murders of seven of her family members during the horrific and brutal Gujarat riots cases in 2002. “Bilkis Bano is the victim of one of the most gruesome and inhuman communal hate crimes, India has ever witnessed. She muster the courage and regroup herself to hold the baton once again, after getting over with the extremely excruciating 17 years long drawn legal battle in ensuring that her culprits are punished for the egregious crime they had committed,” Bilkis’s RP, filed before the Supreme Court, said.
The convicts in their entire petition before the SC has remained absolutely silent and has not disclosed and completely concealed the egregious nature of the crime for which they were convicted by the Trial Court, High Court and the Apex Court. Their concealment of facts is nothing less than deliberately playing fraud upon this Court with an intention to mislead this Court to procure a favorable order, the RP of Bilkis, filed before the Supreme Court, by senior lawyer Shobha Gupta, said. “The enmasse premature release of the convicts in much talked about case of Bilkis, has shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in a number of agitations across the country. The Apex Court has already declared that enmasse remissions are not permissible and that remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime,” the RP of Bilkis said.
The premature release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, to her grown up daughters, to her family, but also to the society at large, nationally and internationally. The society across segments had shown their distrust, anger, disappointment and protest to the clemency shown by the Gujarat govt by releasing criminals like the 11 convicts in the case. Agitations and public protest were carried out virtually in each city of the country and the order of premature release was heavily criticized very vocally on all social media platforms and news, the RP said. As per media, it is reported heavily that Muslims of the area.
started fleeing away from Rahimabad in fear after release of these 11 convicts, the RP said.The worst part was that nobody, not even Bilkis, who was the victim of the crime, had any inkling about any such process of premature release initiated in the shape of a decision to release all the convicts of the case prematurely, it said.
The case of all the convicts for premature release was considered by the Gujarat government pursuant to an order of the Supreme Court of May 13, 2022, filed by one of the convicts Radheshyam, wherein this Court while allowing the petition directed the Gujarat government to decide the application of Radheshyam within a period of 2 months under the remission policy of the Gujarat govt’s of 1992.
Bilkis, her children, specially her grown up daughters and husband, all were shell-shocked with this sudden development in the case. The immediate possible reaction of her was of safety and security of her children, herself and husband, the RP said.
“There were concerns expressed by almost everyone in her vicinity or otherwise from all corners of the country about her safety and security. Her reaction on the premature release of all the convicts, was shell shocked, completely numb,” the RP said.
The convicts were released prematurely and were garlanded and felicitated in full public glare. “Shocking news of premature release of all the convicts was revealed to the public at large when the convicts were honoured and photographed in full public glare,” the RP said.
Bilkis was not made a party in the matter in which the Top Court SC passed the May 2022 judgment (allowing Guj govt to apply 1992 remission policy). The Order of remission passed mechanically, the RP said.
The Prosecuting agency is the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and the CBI Special Court, Mumbai had declined to grant premature release to the writ petitioner, Radheshyam and other co-convicts noting that the crime was heinous, gruesome. This fact was totally supressed from the SC, it said.
The Remission cannot be sought or granted as a matter of right of the convict without examining the case of each convict individually based on their peculiar facts and role played by them in the crime, it said.
Bilkis’s RP also said that the appropriate government would not be state of Gujarat but Maharashtra for releasing the 11 convicts in the case. The remission Policy of state of Maharashtra would govern this case.
The convict, Radheshyam, very cleverly concealed the name of the prosecutrix, Bilkis Bano, which is still alive in larger public memory as a synonym to victim of Gujarat Riots who suffered extreme level of inhuman brutality and violence at the hands of him and other co-convicts when she was only 20 years of age and was 5 months pregnant; the RP filed by, Bilkis before the Supreme Court, said.
