Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court agrees to hear pleas of convicts seeking extension of time to surrender

The Supreme Court had on January 8 asked the 11 Bilkis Bano case convicts to surrender to jail authorities within two weeks.

Written by Ananthakrishnan G

New Delhi | Updated: January 19, 2024 03:17 AM IST

2 min read

The convicts were sentenced to life for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. (File)

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to take up applications filed by convicts, who were sentenced to life for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, seeking an extension of time to surrender to jail authorities.

A bench presided by Justice B V Nagarathna, before whom the applications were mentioned, directed the Registry to get the orders of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud to reconstitute the bench which had heard the case.

The case was decided by a bench of Justices Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan. However, Justice Nagarathna is sitting with Justice Sanjay Karol on Thursday.

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Quashing the remission granted by the Gujarat government to the 11 convicts, the SC had on January 8 asked them to surrender to jail authorities within two weeks. Three of the convicts subsequently moved SC seeking more time to surrender citing different personal reasons.

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On Thursday, their counsel pointed out to the bench that the deadline set by the court for their surrender expires on January 21 and urged the court to take it up on Friday, January 19.

The counsel also pointed out that though only three applications have been filed so far, more may be filed during the day.

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The court agreed to their request. The Supreme Court bench said in the order, “Since the concerned bench has to be reconstituted, Registry to seek orders from…the Chief Justice of India for reconstitution of the bench and the listing of the applications as it is submitted that the time expires on January 21, 2024”.

Ananthakrishnan G

Ananthakrishnan G. is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express. He has been in the field for over 23 years, kicking off his journalism career as a freelancer in the late nineties with bylines in The Hindu. A graduate in law, he practised in the District judiciary in Kerala for about two years before switching to journalism. His first permanent assignment was with The Press Trust of India in Delhi where he was assigned to cover the lower courts and various commissions of inquiry. He reported from the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India during his first stint with The Indian Express in 2005-2006. Currently, in his second stint with The Indian Express, he reports from the Supreme Court and writes on topics related to law and the administration of justice. Legal reporting is his forte though he has extensive experience in political and community reporting too, having spent a decade as Kerala state correspondent, The Times of India and The Telegraph. He is a stickler for facts and has several impactful stories to his credit. ... Read More

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Bilkis Bano Case gujarat riots