The Union Home Ministry had accepted the remission and untimely launch of 11 life imprisonment convicts. Because of his good habits within the Bilkis Bano case, in line with an affidavit filed by the Gujarat authorities within the Supreme Court.
The affidavit stated the 11 convicts accomplished their 14-year sentence and had been launched as their “behavior was found to be good”. However, the affidavit states that his launch was opposed by the Superintendent of Police, Central Bureau of Investigation, Mumbai and the Special Judge (CBI), Mumbai.
The state authorities filed its reply on a PIL filed by CPI(M) chief Subhashini Ali, impartial journalist Revati Laul and former Lucknow University vice-chancellor Roop Rekha Verma.
The affidavit states that the petitioner, being a “third party stranger”, has no scope to problem the exemption orders handed by the competent authority in accordance with the legislation relevant within the prompt case underneath the “guise of PIL”.
“It is submitted that it is well settled that a PIL is not maintainable in a criminal case. The petitioner is in no way connected with the proceeding which either convicted the accused nor the proceeding which resulted in grant of exemption to the convicts. Thus, a petition only on the instance of an engaged person having political conspiracy is liable to be dismissed,” it stated.
The state additional gave factual particulars of the 11 convicts and stated that it has issued a round in 1992 for the early launch of prisoners who’ve accomplished 14 years of imprisonment and have been sentenced to life imprisonment.
It gave the process adopted underneath the 1992 round and stated, “The State Government has considered the cases of all the 11 prisoners as per the 1992 policy and the exemption was granted on 10th August, 2022. It is pertinent to note that “Azadi As per the celebration of “Amrit Mahotsav of” the prisoners weren’t granted exemption underneath the round for grant of remission.
The 11 convicts, who had served 18 years of their life sentence, walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat authorities exempted them from life imprisonment. The Gujarat authorities cited the “consensus” advice of the Jail Advisory Committee (JAC) to grant exemption to convicts on the grounds of “good behaviour”.
Bilkis was gang-raped by a mob on March 3, 2002 in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district through the post-Godhra riots and her three-year-old daughter Saleha was one of many 14. Bilkis was pregnant on the time.
A particular CBI courtroom in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced 11 to life imprisonment for the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the homicide of seven members of his household.
Later the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court upheld his sentence.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
