The Gujarat government’s plea for a review of the Supreme Court’s January 8 ruling concerning the Bilkis Bano convicts was turned down on Thursday, following particular concerns raised about the administration.
Rejecting the plea, the top court said, “We are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the review petitions, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The review petitions are, accordingly, dismissed.”
The Gujarat government had filed a plea in February asking for a reexamination of the January 8 ruling of the Supreme Court, which had reversed the mercy given to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
In addition to being “highly inappropriate and contradictory to the case record,” the government said that several remarks made in the judgement had also “caused significant harm to the state.”
The Supreme Court noted in its ruling on January 8 that “the state of Gujarat acted in tandem and was complicit with Respondent No. 3/accused,” to which the state government had objected. According to the government, the observation was uncalled for, unsupported by the case record, and it gravely damaged Gujarat, the petitioner state.
The Gujarat government claimed in its review petition that the top court erred by failing to recognise the actual facts of the case, citing nine justifications for its claim. The government said that, through the superintendent of the Godhra sub-jail, where the convicts were being held, it had gotten the views of all pertinent authorities, including the Mumbai court that oversaw the trial and the SP.
In November 2011, the proposal was submitted to the Maharashtra government; however, no response was received.
In its January ruling, the Supreme Court observed that the subsequent litigation may have been avoided if the state government had informed the court that it was not the “appropriate government” to decide whether to have the 11 life convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case remitted.
Since the trial was held in a CBI court in Maharashtra, the court declared that the Gujarat government had usurped the authority of the Maharashtra government in determining whether to release the convicts.
The Gujarat administration had decided to give 11 prisoners who had been found guilty of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano in 2002 and murdering seven of her family members during communal riots in the state early release. However, the Supreme Court ultimately rejected this decision.
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