Hyderabad, Jan 8: All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday demanded that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre as well as the Gujarat government should apologise to Bilkis Bano after the Supreme Court order quashing remission of 11 convicts in the gangrape case.
The Hyderabad MP hailed the Supreme Court order striking down the remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.
He said the BJP governments in Gujarat and at the Centre apologise to Bilkis Bano as they helped in releasing of rapists of Bilkis Bano and killers of her child, her mother and four other women. They should speak up and apologise to her.
He noted that the Supreme Court, in its order, observed the state of Gujarat acted in complicity with convicts.
“I welcome the Supreme Court order and hope that it will act as a precedent against all rapists in future. The rapists should understand that just because they affirm a political ideology which is inimical to the Constitution of India, they will not be released,” he said.
He mentioned that the Supreme Court, in its order, made it clear the BJP government released the rapists despite not having powers to do so.
Owaisi said that with the Supreme Court order, BJP stands exposed on the issue of justice for women as it supported rapists and endorsed their release.
The AIMIM leader said the Union Home Ministry headed by Amit Shah approved remission and premature release of the convicts through a letter dated July 11, 2022. He wanted to know why Amit Shah gave approval for their release.
“The Prime Minister’s slogan of Nari Shakti is only a hollow claim which has no relevance to the ground realities,” he said.
He recalled that the incident happened when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat. He said Bilkis Bano fought for justice on her own.
“The environment in Gujarat was so communally poisonous that the trial was shifted to Maharashtra,” he said.
Owaisi also recalled that the rapists were released just before elections in Gujarat. “The rapists were garlanded. Two MLAs of BJP endorsed the released and one of the MLAs also called them sanskari,” he said.
Supreme Court order sends a strong message: Kavitha
Meanwhile, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha has welcomed the Supreme Court order. The member of Telangana Legislative Council stated that the verdict sent a powerful message.
“While her pain is unparalleled, this verdict sends a powerful message: the unwavering commitment to women’s integrity. Justice prevails, every such verdict sets a crucial precedent that our nation stands with women,” Kavitha said.
The Supreme Court on Monday struck down the remission granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts, who are out of jail, and also directed them to report to jail authorities within two weeks.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the Gujarat Government had no jurisdiction to entertain the application for remission of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case or to pass orders granting them remission as it was not the “appropriate government” to do so under the relevant provisions of the law.
The bench said the appropriate government to decide on remission is the state within whose territorial limits the accused are sentenced and not where the crime is committed or the accused are imprisoned.
Kavitha, who is daughter of BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, also reposted on Monday her appeal to the Chief Justice of India regarding the case.
On August 19, 2022, Kavitha had written to the Chief Justice of India, requesting him to intervene so that the release of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano rape case is withdrawn immediately.
Bilkis Bano was 21 and was pregnant when this incident took place during the 2002 Gujarat riots. On August 15, 2022 Gujarat government released the 11 convicts.
“Crimes such as rape shake the very core of our social conscience and seeing convicted rapists walk out freely on a day such as our Independence Day sends shivers down the spine of every woman and indeed every citizen who places their faith in the laws of the land and the justice system of our country,” wrote Kavitha.
“I implore the Honourable Supreme Court of India to save the nation’s faith in our laws and in humanity by intervening in this matter so that the decision of the release of the aforementioned convicts is withdrawn immediately,” she wrote.
Kavitha highlighted relevant technical and legal points and pointed out that “this case was investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It was the Special CBI Court that sentenced these convicts. Section 435 (1) (a) of the Criminal Procedure Code states that the power of the state government to remit or commute a sentence in any case which was investigated by the CBI shall not be exercised by the state government, except after consultation with the central government.” She remarked whether the release of the 11 convicts, in this case, was done in consultation with the Central Government is unclear.
The former MP said the Gujarat government relied on a 1992 policy and while the state government’s revised policy of 2014 following the Supreme Court order would have made them ineligible for remission.
She recalled that the Supreme Court in its order of November 20, 2012 had observed that the remission powers of the appropriate government should not be exercised arbitrarily and should be exercised with some inherent procedural and substantive checks on the said power.
“Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and 5 months pregnant at the time when this heinous crime took place and to imagine her seeing her rapists walking free with impunity, then being garlanded and celebrated for release must have shattered her,” added the MLC.
Kavitha’s brother and TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao had earlier demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene and rescind the Gujarat government’s order.
“If you had really meant what you spoke about respecting women, urge you to intervene and rescind the Gujarat Govt remission order releasing 11 Rapists,” Rama Rao had said while referring to the Prime Minister’s speech on August 15, 2022.
