8 January 2024
In a significant decision today, the Supreme Court canceled the release of 11 people who had been sentenced to life in prison for serious crimes like murder and gang rape during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, including the case of Bilkis Bano. These convicts were released in August 2022, on Independence Day, which caused a lot of controversy and backlash by netizens, and many people voiced and led to legal challenges in the top court.
After an 11-day hearing in August, Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan reserved their judgment on October 12. In addition to this, the court also told the Gujarat and central governments to submit their original records.
Justice Nagarathna, who wrote the judgment, began by referring to the philosopher Plato, saying that punishment should aim at prevention and reform, not just revenge. She talked about the importance of balancing the rights of victims and their families with the rights of convicts to a second chance through remission or reduced sentences.
Addressing the question of whether Bilkis Bano’s petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was valid, Justice Nagarathna stated it was indeed valid. However, she decided not to answer the question of the maintainability of public interest litigation (PIL) petitions, saying it wasn’t necessary since one of the victims had approached the court. The court focused on considering the merits of Bano’s petition, leaving the question of PILs open for future cases.
Additionally, the court rejected the plea of the convicts to safeguard their freedom and directed them to report to jail authorities within two weeks. The court highlighted that the Gujarat government had no jurisdiction to consider the application for remission or issue orders.
