The Supreme Court rejected a plea on Friday submitted by two of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, who challenged the January 8 verdict that cancelled their remission, calling it “absolutely misconceived”.
Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar questioned the petitioners about how they could appear in an appeal over an order passed by another bench of the top court.
“What is this plea? How is this plea maintainable? This is absolutely misconceived. How can an Article 32 petition be filed? We can’t sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench,” the bench said.
Radheyshaym Bhagwandas Shah and Rajubhai Babulal Soni, the convicts, were represented by advocate Rishi Malhotra, who sought permission to withdraw the plea, which the bench accepted.
Shah has also applied for an interim bail.
Both convicts had approached the apex court in March, claiming that the January 8 verdict cancelling their sentence remission was “in the teeth of” a 2002 Constitution bench order. For a final ruling, they urged that the matter be referred to a larger bench.
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