Bilkis Bano case: SC questions parole granted to convicts, says state should have considered ’gravity of crime’

In a blow to the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court questioned the parole granted to the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, saying the gravity of the crime “should have been considered” by the state. Eleven convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case were granted remission by the Gujarat government and released on 15 August last year.

The Gujarat government faced strong criticism for its decision to prematurely release the eleven convicts in the case. While hearing a March 27 plea challenging the release of convicts, a bench comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna said that the gravity of offence should have been considered by the state government.

The Centre and the Gujarat government, meanwhile, told the apex court that they may file a plea seeking a review of its March 27 order asking them to be ready with original files on the grant of remission to the convicts, reported the Indian Express. The bench will now hear the matter on May 2, and will also take a decision on the review petition proposed to be filed by the Gujarat government.

The bench observed that just because the Central government concurred with the state’s decision does not mean that the state is not required to apply its mind, LiveLaw reported.

“The question is whether government applied its mind, what material formed the basis of its decision, etc…(Judicial) order requiring convicts to be in jail for rest of their natural life… (they were) released by executive order… Today it is this lady (Bilkis). Tomorrow, it can be you or me. There must be objective standards… If you don’t give us reason, we will draw our own conclusions,” the bench observed.

The Apex Court said: “A pregnant woman was gang-raped and several people were killed. You cannot compare [the] victim’s case with standard section 302 (murder) cases.” “Like you cannot compare apples with oranges, similarly massacre cannot be compared with [a] single murder. Crimes are generally committed against society and the community. Unequals cannot be treated equally,” the Supreme Court bench said.

Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and 14 members of her family were killed by a mob on March 3, 2002, in the Limkheda taluka of Gujarat’s Dahod district during the riots. Among the dead was her three-year-old daughter who was snatched by the convicts from her lap and banged her head to a rock nearby to death.

-INDIA NEWS STREAM