Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court cancels Gujarat order allowing rapists’ early release

mangaloretoday.com

New Delhi, Jan 08, 2024: In a blow to the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court on Monday cancelled an order passed by the state to release 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case, holding that it "was not competent" to make such a decision and termed the move a "fraud act".

 

A bench of Justices BV Nagarthana and Ujjal Bhuyan pronounced the verdict and said a petition filed by Bilkis Bano challenging the early release of 11 convicts was valid.

The bench said the Gujarat government was not empowered to pass the order on the early release of the convicts since the appropriate government entitled to pass such orders was Maharashtra, where the trial took place, and not Gujarat.

"An application (for their early release) was filed by the convicts before the Government of Gujarat and the government is competent to consider it," the Supreme Court observed.

Courtesy: India Today