Bilkis Bano case: SC to commence final hearing on August 7 on plea challenging remission to 11 convicts

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will commence final hearing on August 7 in clutch of petitions challenging the remission granted to 11 convicts in the case of gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family members during the 2002 post-Godhra riots.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan took note of the fact that all convicts have been duly served and pleadings have been concluded. It granted liberty to the parties to file their replies, written submissions, synopsis, and list of dates, in the meantime.

The court has posted the matter for final hearing on August 7.

On May 9, the Supreme Court had directed issuance of notice to convicts, in relation with the convicts who could not be served notices. It had also directed publication of notices in local newspapers, including in Gujarati and English.

On May 2, the Centre and Gujarat government had told the Supreme Court that they would not claim privilege over the documents in connection with the remission of sentence of convicts in Bilkis Bano case, and agreed to share the documents with the apex court for its perusal.

The 11 men convicted in the case were released on August 15 last year, after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. The convicts had completed 15 years in jail.

A batch of the petitions have been filed against the release of 11 convicts, including the one filed by Bilkis Bano. The other petitions were filed by CPI-M leader Subhashini Ali, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, the National Federation of Indian Women, former IPS officer Meeran Chadha Borwankar, Asma Shafique Shaikh and others.

IANS