Bilkis Bano case: Why remission policy applied selectively, SC asks Gujarat govt

Raju responded that he will be able to answer only the facts of the case. To this, Justice Nagarathna said, “You will have to have the statistics. The state-wise statistics. The opportunity to reform should be given to every prisoner. Not only to a few prisoners.”

Raju told the bench – also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan – that the question is currently being considered by another SC bench and that some guidelines are likely to be put in place.

Justice Nagarathna sought to know “how far is the remission policy being implemented in cases where convicts have completed 14 years” and whether “remission policy being implemented in all such cases subject to their eligibility”.

Referring to the Rudul Sah case where a man was in jail in Bihar for 14 years even after his acquittal, she said: “On the other hand, you have cases like Rudul Shah. Even though there was an acquittal, he continued to remain in prison. Extreme cases, both this side and that side.”

Bano was gangraped and her three-year-old daughter was among 14 people killed by a mob on March 3, 2002, in Limkheda taluka of Dahod district during riots. Bilkis was pregnant at the time. All 11 convicts in the case were granted remission by Gujarat government and released on August 15, 2022.

Seeking to justify the state’s decision, Raju contended that the policy of remission is different from sentencing.