Bilkis Bano Case: SC Refuses to Entertain Plea for Interim Bail by Two Convicts

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain pleas by two men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano amid the Gujarat riots of 2002.

The two convicts, Radheshyam Bhagwandas and Rajubhai Babulal Soni, moved the Court for interim bail till a fresh decision is taken on their pleas for remission (early release from prison).

A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and PV Sanjay Kumar however, minced no words in making it clear that no such benefit would be extended to the convicts.

"What is this plea? How is it even maintainable? Absolutely misconceived. How can in (Article) 32, we sit over appeal?" the Court asked. The petition was eventually withdrawn by the two convicts.

Notably, on January 8 this year, the Supreme Court had cancelled the remission granted by the Gujarat government to all the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case.

In the January 8 judgment, the top court had concluded that the remission policy applicable to the eleven rape convicts in the Bilkis Bano case was the remission policy in Maharashtra (where the rape case trial took place) and not that of the Gujarat government.

In other words, the Court said that the State of Gujarat had no authority to apply its remission policy to the rape convicts in this case. The Court, therefore, ordered the re-imprisonment of the convicts.

The Court also criticised the Gujarat government in harsh terms, commenting that the State government had “acted in tandem and was complicit with the accused", when it allowed their early release from jail.

Review petitions challenging the correctness of this verdict, which were filed by the Gujarat government as well as convicts, are pending before the top court. After the Court indicated that it was not inclined to allow this plea, the petitions were ultimately withdrawn.