Supreme Court decision ‘very encouraging’, says retired Justice U D Salvi who sentenced 11 Bilkis accused

The convicts were freed in August 2022, after a Gujarat government panel approved their application for remission of sentence.

Justice Salvi had then said that the decision should be reconsidered and decided fairly based on all the facts before authorities. The case had been transferred to Mumbai from Gujarat by the Supreme Court in 2004 for a fair trial.

“The court has rightfully said that the authority to grant remission should have been that of the Maharashtra government and not the Gujarat government since the trial was held here in Mumbai. The detailed judgment will have the reasons. The court has particularly spoken about the fraud committed also,” Justice Salvi said.

The Supreme Court stated in its order that the May 2022 order by another bench asking the Gujarat government to decide on the remission based on the 1992 policy, was obtained by concealing facts and perpetrating fraud upon the court.

The 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Salvi, when he was the trial court judge in Mumbai, were granted remission by the Gujarat government and were subsequently released on August 15, 2022. They were also felicitated at the time of their release.

Justice Salvi had then said that the felicitation by local leaders was wrong since they were convicted by the trial court and their punishment was upheld by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court.

“The felicitation (by locals) was wrong. It was a display of their stupidity,” he said on Monday. He had also said in August 2022, asking for a reconsideration of the release, that the “law must carry justice with it”. On Monday, he said that the court’s order could be seen as having done that.