SC changes Gujarat government's decision - Bilkis Bano convicts will go to jail again

Bilkis Bano Case: The culprits of Bilkis Bano will have to go behind the bars again. Actually, the Supreme Court has given a big decision on Monday. He has reversed the decision of Gujarat government to release the culprits. The Supreme Court has approved the petitions of the victim in the case. Public interest litigations have also been approved. The Supreme Court says that a woman deserves respect. No matter how low she is considered in the society or what religion she believes in.

The Supreme Court said that the state government is competent to consider relaxation in punishment. Parliament gave this power to the state government. The trial in this case was transferred to another state. This was done by the Supreme Court. The remission of sentence is cancelled.

On the ability of the Gujarat government to pass exemption orders, the Supreme Court said that it is clear that the appropriate government will have to obtain the permission of the court before passing exemption orders. This means that the place of incident or the place of imprisonment of the convict is not relevant for exemption. Gujarat government's definition is otherwise. The intention of the Government is that the State under which the accused was tried and sentenced was the proper Government. In this, the emphasis is on the place of trial and not where the crime took place.

In August 2022, the Gujarat government had released all the 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case. The release of the culprits was challenged in the Supreme Court.

Opposing the release, Bilkis Bano's lawyer had said that she had not even recovered from the shock and the culprits were released. However, the Supreme Court had also raised questions on the premature release of the culprits. The Supreme Court had said that we are not against the concept of remission of sentence as it is well accepted in the law, but it should be made clear as to how these convicts became eligible for pardon.