'Bilkis Bano gangrape: Supreme Court quashes Gujarat government's decision to allow premature release of convicts'

[Sukla Sen]

[What a pleasant surprise!!!

Not to forget, this premature release on the very 75th Independence Day of India of this obnoxious gang -- sentenced to life-term on being convicted of gang rape and mass mass murder --  turned out to be a sort of key element of the celebration of "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav" on that momentous day! The second most highlighted event -- next only to the Prime Minister's ceremonial speech that day morning, from the historic Red Fort.

After release, they'd be publicly felicitated too. (Like a bunch of Bhagat Singhs?)

Let alone merits, the particular state government granting the remission, as the Supreme Court has boldly underlined, had no jurisdiction to do so.

And the Court has made bold to state the obvious.]

<<It is not the government of the State within whose territory the offence has occurred which can pass the remission and thus, the order of remission has to be quashed, the bench held.

The Court in its judgment also strongly came down upon one of the convicts, Radhyesham, for playing fraud upon the Court by suppressing material facts and getting a favourable order from the top court in May 2022 which eventually led to the release of all the eleven convicts.

The Court said that the May 2022 judgment was obtained by fraud and therefore, not good in law.

The Court also came down upon the Gujarat government for not filing a review plea against the May 2022 judgment and instead being complicit and acting in tandem with the convicts and usurping the Maharashtra government's jurisdiction to grant remission to convicts.>>

<https://www.barandbench.com/news/bilkis-bano-gangrape-supreme-court-quashes-gujarat-government-decision-allow-premature-release-convicts>

[Statement of Bilkis Bano -- English only.]

January 8, 2024

As the Supreme Court bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the remission granted to the 11 men convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and murdering 14 members of her family in 2002

Today is truly the New Year for me. I have wept tears of relief. I have smiled for the first time in over a year and half. I have hugged my children. It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again. This is what justice feels like. I thank the honourable Supreme Court of India for giving me, my children and women everywhere, this vindication and hope in the promise of equal justice for all.

I have said before, and I say again today, journeys like mine can never be made alone. I have had my husband and my children by my side. I have had my friends who have given me so much love at a time of such hate, and held my hand at each difficult turn. I have had an extraordinary lawyer, Advocate Shobha Gupta, who has walked with me unwaveringly for over 20 long years, and who never allowed me to lose hope in the idea of justice.

A year and half ago, on August 15, 2022, when those who had destroyed my family and terrorised my very existence, were given an early release, I simply collapsed. I felt I had exhausted my reservoir of courage. Until a million solidarities came my way. Thousands of ordinary people and women of India came forward. They stood with me, spoke for me, and filed PIL petitions in the Supreme Court. 6000 people from all over, and 8500 people from Mumbai wrote appeals; 10,000 people wrote an Open Letter, as did 40,000 people from 29 districts of Karnataka. To each of these people, my gratitude for your precious solidarity and strength. You gave me the will to struggle, to rescue the idea of justice not just for me, but for every woman in India. I thank you.

Even as I absorb the full meaning of this verdict for my own life, and for my children’s lives, the dua that emerges from my heart today is simple – the rule of law, above all else and equality before law, for all.

Bilkis Bano, Jan 8, 2024 (Issued through Adv. Shobha Gupta)

[Please also watch: <https://youtu.be/j8RIrApA4_c>.

And a very remarkable comment from Suhaas Ahuja :

Honestly, I’ve been struggling with how irreversible mankind’s descend into state-sanctified madness has become. #Ukraine. #Gaza. And here in India, we have been so caught up with our own troubles that we haven’t been able to care. Then there’s been the growing disillusionment with Chief Justice #DYChandrachud. Through all of that comes this piece of news. For a moment - just a moment - I breathe. But it’s back to the grind again. For now I will not wonder why the Court had to reserve its October judgement until now. Why delay justice for yet another three months after all that has happened? But anyway, here we are. No matter how many of us failed her, at least in this ruling the Supreme Court did not fail #BilkisBano.]