The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to constitute a special bench to hear pleas challenging the order of Gujarat government allowing the premature release of 11 convicts sentenced to life in the Bilkis Bano case, reported Live Law.
Bilkis Bano is a gang-rape survivor in the communal violence that followed the Godhra train burning incident in Gujarat in 2022. Bano was 21 years old then and was pregnant at that time. Seven members of her family were also killed during the riots.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala assured Bano, represented through her lawyer Shobha Gupta, that the new bench will be formed. Gupta mentioned the matter for urgent hearing and said that a new bench needs to be constituted.
The CJI replied that a bench will be constituted. “I will have a bench constituted. Will look at it this evening,” he said.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had said on February 7 as well that he will constitute a special bench to hear the matter.
Bano’s counsel Advocate Shobha Gupta claimed that the matter was mentioned four times earlier, but it was yet to be taken up for preliminary hearing and notice, reported Live Law.
On August 15, all the 11 convicts, sentenced to life imprisonment, were granted pre-mature release after a panel set up by the BJP
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Raj Kumar said the remission application was considered because the convicts had completed 14 years in jail, and factors such as “age, nature of the crime, behaviour in prison and so on”.
Earlier, on January 24, the hearing on Bano’s plea challenging the remission by the Gujarat government could not be held in the top court as the judges concerned were hearing a matter related to passive euthanasia as part of a five-judge Constitution bench.