New Delhi: The Gujarat government recently faced scrutiny from the Supreme Court regarding its “implementation of remission policies for 11 individuals who were released after being convicted in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape case. The court responded to a petition filed by Bano and several public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the release of these convicts in August year as they had been found guilty of crimes during the Gujarat riots in 2002.
Although the convicts were not eligible for remission under the 2014 guidelines, they were evaluated according to a policy from 1992, as those newer guidelines were not in effect at the time of their conviction in January 2008.
Representing Gujarat, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) SV Raju argued that every convict deserves an opportunity for reform and remission regardless of the seriousness of their crime. However, the court expressed doubts. Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan questioned why there seemed to be inconsistencies in how the remission policy was applied. They also asked about the criteria used by the state when implementing this policy, particularly when considering cases where convicts have already completed 14 years of their sentences.
Raju referred to a judgment from May 13, which instructed the state to assess prisoners’ pleas for remission based on guidelines from 1992. He explained how these procedures were followed by Gujarat.
This involved considering the viewpoint of the judge overseeing the Godhra court, establishing a committee to advise on jail matters, and taking into account the viewpoints of law enforcement, the jail superintendent, and the trial court judge prior to making a decision regarding the release of the convicts, in August 2022.