In a major verdict, the Supreme Court on today quashed the order of premature release granted by the State of Gujarat in August 2022 to 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family during the 2002 The court ordered them to report back to jail in two weeks.
On August 15 last year, the Gujarat government had released 11 convicts in the case of gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her seven family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Gujarat Government, the apex court said, usurped the power of the Maharashtra government and asked why it didn’t file a review petition seeking correction of the court’s May 13, 2022 order.
“We hold that the Government of the State of Gujarat had no competence to entertain the applications for remission or pass orders thereon,” said a Bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan – which had on October 12 last year reserved its verdict on petitions filed by Bano and others.