Bilkis Bano case: SC dismisses plea by convicts to extend time to surrender

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea filed by the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case for more time to surrender than the two weeks granted by the top court earlier while cancelling their remission on January 8, 2024.

After this, all the convicts would have no option but to surrender before the jail authorities on January 21 to serve their sentence of life term.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan termed the plea filed the convicts as devoid of merits.

"The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit inasmuch as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions, the bench said.

In their separate applications, the convicts have sought time between four to six weeks to surrender, citing reasons of harvest season and taking care of old parents, among others.

The court had on January 18 fixed the matter for hearing on Friday.

On January 8, 2024, the Supreme Court had quashed the Gujarat government's decision of August 10, 2022 to grant remission to 11 convicts sentenced to life term for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and killing her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, for "usurping" the power of Maharashtra government and lacking competence and jurisdiction.

The top court had then directed the convicts to surrender within two weeks.