The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain submissions seeking an early setting up of a fresh bench to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts by the Gujarat government in her gang-rape case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain submissions seeking an early setting up of a fresh bench to hear Bilkis Bano’s plea challenging the remission of sentence of 11 convicts by the Gujarat government in her gang-rape case
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha was urged by lawyer Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, that another bench was needed to be constituted to hear the case.
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“The writ (petition) will be listed. Please, do not keep mentioning the same thing again and again. It is very irritating,” the CJI said.
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Supreme Court judge Bela M Trivedi on Tuesday recused herself from hearing a plea filed by Bano.
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The CJI will now have to set up a fresh bench, to which Justice Trivedi will not be a part, to hear Bano’s case.
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All the 11 convicts were granted remission by the state government and released on August 15 this year.
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Bilkis Bano was 21-years-old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among seven family members killed at that time.
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The investigation in the case was handed over to the CBI and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the Supreme Court.
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A special CBI court in Mumbai had on January 21, 2008 sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment.
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Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
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The 11 men convicted in the case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. They had completed more than 15 years in jail.
Source: Daily Pioneer
