NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the Gujarat government's decision 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 lacking competence and jurisdiction.
A bench of Justices B V Navarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan declared the State where the trial was shifted, that is, the State of Maharashtra would be the appropriate authority to decide the question of premature release of convicts.
The court ordered all the convicts to surrender within two weeks before the jail authorities in Gujarat where they were previously lodged in before their release on August 10, 2022.
It said the rule of law must prevail in a democracy, there is no place for compassion and sympathy for such convicts.
The bench also declared previous judgement of May 13, 2022 by a division bench of two judges ordering the Gujarat government to decide remission plea by one of the convicts as "nullity and non est in the eyes of law" for having been obtained by playing fraud upon the court and non disclosure of relevant facts.
"All proceedings taken in furtherance of the judgment are also vitiated and a nullity in law," the bench said.
The court asked why the State of Gujarat usurped the power of remission when it was clearly not vested with the it, and why it didn't file a review against the verdict directing it to consider remission.
The convict suppressed material facts and concealed the opinion of the presiding judge of Bombay HC before the Gujarat HC while seeking a direction to the state of Gujarat to consider remission, the court said.
The court held the writ petition filed by Bilkis Bano in the case challenging the validity of remission order was maintainable.
However, the court refrained from deciding maintainability of a batch of PILs by a group of activists in the case.
In a strong rebuke to the Gujarat government, the bench said it was complicit with the convicts in deciding the question of remission even though CBI as well as Mumbai Special Court and Dahod district magistrate had given negative opinion in the matter.
Reacting on the development, advocate Vrinda Grover, who argued on behalf of petitioners, said, "It is a very good judgement which has upheld the Rule of Law and the faith of the people of this country, particularly the women, in the legal system, the courts, and that there is an assurance for justice."
In October, last year, the apex court had reserved its verdict in the matter after hearing rejoinder submissions by various petitioners.
Pronouncing the judgement, Justice Nagarathna said that the state of Gujarat was not competent to pass the remission orders. The apex court said on this ground alone that Gujarat government lacked competence, therefore the writ petitions are liable to be allowed and the orders are liable to be declared as nullity. The apex court said that not Gujarat but the Maharashtra government was competent to pass orders.
The Gujarat government, defending its decision, had submitted that it granted remission on the basis of a judgment passed by another bench of the apex court in May 2022, and after they had served 15 years in jail.
Apart from the petition filed by Bilkis Bano challenging the remission granted to the convicts by the Gujarat government, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the relief. Expelled TMC MP Mahua Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission granted to the convicts.
