Court Granted Bail To Bilkis Bano Convicts For Good Behaviour: Gujarat Govt To SC
THE Gujarat government on Monday told the Supreme Court that the eleven convicts in the Bilkis Bano case were granted remission as they had completed more than 14 years in prison and their “behaviour was found to be good”.
The apex court is hearing three petitions challenging the release of the men who were released on Independence Day.
The Gujarat government filed an affidavit in the top court claiming that the remission was granted not as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav but after considering all the opinions as required under the 1992 remission policy.
In an affidavit, the state Home Department Under Secretary said, “I say that the state government considered all the opinions and decided to release 11 prisoners since they have completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behavior was found to be good.”
It added that the state government considered the opinions of the seven authorities –the Inspector General of Prisons, Gujarat, the Jail Superintendents, the Jail Advisory Committee, the District Magistrate, the Police Superintendent, the CBI, the Special Crime Branch, Mumbai, and the sessions court, Mumbai (CBI).”
After approval of the state government, orders have been issued on August 10, 2022, to release the prisoners. Hence, in an instance, case the state has considered the proposals under a policy of 1992 as directed by this court and not granted under the circular governing grant of remission to prisoners as part of celebration of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, added the affidavit.
The 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano Bano case walked free on August 15, leading to a huge political controversy across the country.
Earlier, Bilkis Bano’s husband had said that he had no idea about the release and he got to know about it from the media.
“We were surprised to know that the convicts have been released,” Bilkis Bano’s husband Yakub Rasul said as quoted by PTI. “We don’t know when the convicts processed their application and which ruling the state government took into consideration. We never received any kind of notice,” he added.
The 11 convicts who were granted premature release are Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana.
