In the Bilkis Bano case, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Gujarat government, said – today Bilkis will be someone else tomorrow
The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a petition by Bilkis Bano, in which she accused the Gujarat government of prematurely releasing the convicts in her case. In his petition, he had also challenged the decision of the 11 convicts to be released in the Supreme Court. During the hearing, the Supreme Court reprimanded the Gujarat government and said that after all you should keep in mind that there should never be illegal use of power. The Supreme Court said that today it is Bilkis, tomorrow it will be someone else. This is a case where a pregnant woman was gangraped and seven of her relatives were murdered. We had asked you (Gujarat government) to produce all the records. We want to know if you have applied your conscience. If yes, please specify what material you have made the basis of the release.
The Supreme Court said during the hearing that we only want to ensure that there is actual use of power. There should be no illegal use of power. The manner in which the crime was committed is horrific. The court further said that every person convicted has got parole for more than one thousand days. We believe that when you exercise power, it should be for the public good. No matter who you are, no matter how high you are, even if the state has a conscience? It should be for the good of the public. Doing so is a crime against a community and society. The court asked the Gujarat government, what message are you giving by releasing the culprits? How can you compare apples to oranges? Not only this, how can you compare killing of one person with genocide?
The court said during the hearing that despite repeated requests, the Gujarat government is not bringing before us the records of premature release of life convicts. If you don’t show us the file, we will draw our own conclusions. Also if you don’t produce the file, you are in contempt of court. In such a situation, we can automatically take cognizance and start a contempt case.
During the hearing, ASG SV Raju, on behalf of the Center and the Gujarat government, said that we are seeking reconsideration of the order in which we have been asked to produce the files issued by this court. We are filing review. We have also sought time to present the file. This is the prerogative of the government.
SV Raju said that a petition has also been filed against the state government’s decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case of gang-rape and murder of seven family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. In which he said that the premature release of rape convicts has shaken the conscience of the society. Even in the last hearing, the Supreme Court had raised questions on the release. Whether the Government of Gujarat had jurisdiction to grant release? Under which jurisdiction did Gujarat release? Can the court ask a body without jurisdiction to consider release? We will consider all these aspects.
This is the case
Let us tell you that after the incident of arson in a compartment of Sabarmati Express in Godhra, Gujarat, the riots broke out. During this, in the year 2002, Bilkis was gang-raped. Also, 7 people of his family were murdered. In this case, on January 21, 2008, the court sentenced 11 convicts to life imprisonment. Since then all the 11 convicts were lodged in jail and all were released on August 15 last year. Not only this, some Hinduist organizations had also welcomed these convicts with garlands during their release from jail. This release has been challenged in the court.
