Supreme Court Denies Gujarat's Plea Over Bilkis Bano Case Verdict

The Supreme Court dismissed Gujarat's request to review its verdict that quashed the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 riots. The state's plea had challenged the court's observations, calling them errors, which were ultimately rejected.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by the Gujarat government seeking a review of the court's verdict that contained certain observations against the state while quashing the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 riots.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan also rejected the application for listing the review petition in open court.

''Having carefully gone through the Review Petition, the order under challenge, and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the Review Petition, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The Review Petition is, accordingly, dismissed,'' the bench stated.

The Gujarat government had claimed that the apex court's observation in the January 8 judgment, holding the state guilty of ''usurpation of power'' and ''abuse of discretion'' for complying with an order of another top court bench, was an ''error apparent on the face of the record'' based on three primary grounds.

The plea cited a May 2022 decision by another coordinate bench of the apex court, which declared the state of Gujarat to be the ''appropriate government'' and directed it to decide the remission application of one of the convicts according to the 1992 remission policy.

''No adverse inference of 'usurpation of power' can be drawn against the state of Gujarat for not filing a review petition against the May 13, 2022 judgment,'' the review plea argued.

But the apex court's January 8 verdict quashed the remission granted to the 11 men, ordering that they be sent back to jail within two weeks. Bilkis Bano, 21, was five-months pregnant when she was raped during the communal riots following the Godhra train-burning incident in February 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among seven family members killed.

All 11 convicts were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022. Critiquing the state, the apex court stated that Gujarat ''usurped'' the power of the Maharashtra government in granting remission.

The court declared nullity the May 13, 2022 judgment by another bench that directed the Gujarat government to consider the remission application, calling it a case of ''playing fraud on court''. ''This is a classic case where the May 13, 2022 order has been used for violating the rule of law while granting remission in favor of the convicts,'' Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan noted, ultimately nullifying the remission orders on grounds of usurpation of powers not vested in the state of Gujarat.

(With inputs from agencies.)