Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the interim bail petitions of Radheyshyam Bhagwandas and Rajubhai Babulal, two men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots in Godhra. The convicts had sought temporary release pending a decision on a fresh remission plea, challenging the court’s January verdict that revoked their earlier release by the Gujarat government on Independence Day in 2022.
Bhagwandas and Babulal argued that the January verdict contradicted a 2002 order by the Constitution bench, creating an “anomalous” situation where different benches of the Supreme Court had opposing views on the Gujarat government’s policy of early prisoner release.
Their plea cited that in May 2022, one bench directed the state to consider Bhagwandas’ early release plea. However, the January verdict stated that the Maharashtra government, not Gujarat, was competent to grant remission. The plea argued that this discrepancy could lead to judicial uncertainty and chaos regarding future legal precedents.
The convicts sought a directive for the center to clarify which judgment—May 13, 2022, or January 8, 2024—should be applicable and to consider their case for premature release. Advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing Bhagwandas and Babulal, argued that the existence of two conflicting judgments created a situation that needed resolution.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, dismissing the plea, questioned its maintainability, stating, “What is this plea… how is it even maintainable? Absolutely misconceived… How can we sit on appeal in PIL (public interest litigation).” He emphasized that the court was not sitting in appeal and clarified that the January verdict considered the earlier May ruling under Article 32, which allows individuals to move the Supreme Court for enforcement of fundamental rights.
The January judgment had been critical of the May 2022 ruling, delivered by now-retired Justice Ajay Rastogi, and noted that the Gujarat government should have sought its review. It highlighted that the premature release of the convicts was based on a 1992 remission policy, which had been superseded by a 2014 law, sending the 11 convicts back to jail.
In August 2022, the Gujarat government granted premature release to the 11 convicts serving life sentences, citing their “good conduct” and following the 1992 policy. The Supreme Court criticized this decision, stating that the Gujarat government had “usurped” the power of the Maharashtra counterparts to grant remission.
Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, was raped, and her three-year-old daughter was among seven family members killed during the 2002 riots.
