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Bilkis Bano filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Wednesday, challenging the clemency of the 11 convicts who were released on August 15 of this year. After her lawyer raised the matter before the CJI today, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated that he will look into the listing of the plea. The early release of the 11 convicts sentenced to life in prison in the 2002 gangrape case drew widespread condemnation, and several petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat government’s decision. While the cases are being heard, Bilkis Bano’s lawyer filed a writ petition on Wednesday challenging the sentence remission.
During the 2002 riots, 11 men were convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members.
As the Supreme Court heard earlier petitions against the remission, the Gujarat government stated that the remission was granted due to their “good behavior.”
The decision was approved by the Centre, according to the Gujarat government. However, the affidavit revealed that the CBI and the trial judge objected to the convicts’ release because their crime was grave and heinous.
According to the affidavit, one of the convicts was arrested for sexual harassment of a woman while on parole in 2020.
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly Elections in 2022, the issue was at the center of a political squabble after BJP MLA CK Raulji backed the Bilkis Bano rapists, claiming that some of the convicts were brahmins with good’sasnkaar.’
A bench led by Justice Ajay Rastogi ruled in May 2022 that the Gujarat government had jurisdiction to consider the remission request. On Wednesday, Bilkis Bano’s lawyer, Shobha Gupta, expressed doubt that Justice Rastogi would be able to hear the case because he was called to the Constitution Bench. “The review must come first. Let it be heard by Justice Rastogi “CJI stated that he will decide on the listing of the plea after investigating it.
