Bilkis Bano Case Remarks: SC Rejects Gujarat Govt's Plea To Remove Extreme Criticism

The Supreme Court refused to overturn its January 8 judgment which included critical observations against the state.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea filed by the Gujarat government seeking a review of its previous verdict which included critical observations against the state. The top court refused to overturn its January 8 judgment that set aside the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the gang rape case of Bilkis Bano.

The earlier ruling quashed the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven members of her family at the time of riots in 2002. 

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan also rejected the request to hear the review petition in open court.

"Having carefully gone through the Review Petition, the order under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the Review Petition, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The Review Petition is, accordingly, dismissed," the bench said, PTI reported.

The Gujarat government has said in a plea that the apex court's observation in the January 8 judgment, holding the state guilty of "usurpation of power" and "abuse of discretion" for complying with an order of another top court bench, was an "error apparent on the face of the record" primarily on three grounds.

It stated that another bench of the Supreme Court had, in May 2022, declared Gujarat to be the "appropriate government" and instructed the state to handle the remission application of one of the convicts according to the 1992 remission policy.

The review plea said, "No adverse inference of 'usurpation of power' can be drawn against the state of Gujarat for not filing a review petition against the judgment dated May 13, 2022 (of the coordinate bench)."

"It is humbly submitted that the extreme observation made by this court that the state of Gujarat 'acted in tandem and was complicit with respondent no.3/accused' is not only highly unwarranted and against the record of the case, but has caused serious prejudice to the petitioner-state of Gujarat," it said, PTI reported.

On January 8 ruling, the Supreme Court cancelled the remission given to the 11 men convicted in the case and ordered that they be returned to jail within two weeks.