Bilkis Bano case: Pleas challenging remission of convicts are 'sheer misuse of PIL', Gujarat govt tells Supreme Court

Convicts in the Bilkis Bano were offered sweets after they came out of jail (PTI Photo)

The pleas challenging the remission of convicts in Bilkis Bano's case amounts to misuse of public interest litigations, the Gujarat government reportedly told the Supreme Court on October 17.

The state government's response came after it was issued a notice by the apex court, which admitted a plea filed by activist and CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali against the release of the convicts in the 2002 case involving Bano's gangrape and the murder of her family members.

A third-party interference cannot be permitted in a criminal case under the garb of PIL, the Gujarat government said, according to Law Today. Such petitions are a "sheer misuse of public interest litigation", it reportedly added.

The affidavit filed by the government further questioned the locus standi of Ali. It added that the remission was granted to the convicts after considering opinions from all those on the remission board.

It noted that the convicts were lodged in prison for 14 years or more, and their behaviour was considered before the decision was taken to release them. "Their behaviour was found to be good," news agency ANI quoted the affidavit as saying.

The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15.

The victim, Bano, was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven killed.

Apart from the plea moved by Ali, journalist Revathy Laul, activist Roop Rekha Rani and Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra have also filed petitions in the Supreme Court.

The remission "completely fails to bolster either social or human justice and does not constitute a valid exercise of the guided discretionary power of the state", Mahua had said.

(With inputs from PTI)