Bilkis Bano on Wednesday challenged the release of 11 men convicted of her gang rape and murder of her family members in the 2002 Gujarat Riots in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and PS Narasimha took note the of the petition and said it would consider it for listing for hearing.
Lawyer Shobha Gupta submitted that the victim herself has challenged the grant of remission and release of the convicts, and the matter be listed for hearing. She said that Justice Ajay Rastogi, who was part of the bench which had heard other similar pleas against the remission, was now part of a Constitution Bench hearing.
"The review has to be heard first. Let it come before Justice Rastogi," said Chandrachud.
When the lawyer for Bano said let the matter be heard in open court, the bench said, "Only the court concerned can decide that."
Chandrachud said that he would take a call on the issue in the evening.
Earlier, a bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar had said that it would hear a fresh plea moved by a women's organisation, National Federation of Indian Women, challenging the remission of sentence and the release of convicts in the case.
On March 3, 2002 during Gujarat Riots, Bano was fleeing with her toddler daughter and 15 others when they took shelter in a field. She was 21 and was five-months-pregnant at the time. When they took shelter, a mob of 20-30 people armed with sickles, swords, and sticks attacked them. Bano was gangraped and seven members of her family were killed.
The Supreme Court ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the case. A Special CBI court convicted and sentenced the 11 accused men in 2008. The conviction and sentence was upheld by the higher courts.
After serving 15 years in prison, one of the 11 convicts approached the Supreme Court with a plea for his premature release. The apex court directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence, following which the government formed a committee. The committee unanimously recommonded the release of the convicts, which was accepted by the Gujarat government. Following the acceptance, the convicts were released.
(With PTI inputs)
