Bilkis Bano Case: Stigma Attached To Even Petty Offences, How Can We Stand Convicts Of Such A Barbaric Offence? – Justice Abhay Thipsay

Retired Bombay High Court Judge Abhay Thipsay on Tuesday discussed the concept of remission and criticized the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 men convicted for the murder of 7 persons and gang rape of Bilkis Bano in Dahod district of Gujarat in 2002.

"There's so much stigma to offenders for even petty offences. How can we stand a person when he's convicted of such a barbaric offence?", Justice Thipsay said at a press conference organised by United Against Injustice and Discrimination in support of Bano.

On August 15, the Gujarat government granted remission to all 11 convicts under its 1992 remission policy.

Justice Thipsay condemned the felicitation of the convicts by the VHP and said,

"Even assuming that the remission was rightly granted, why felicitate the convicts? Is it because some people feel these are the warriors who played a role in subduing a particular community?"

He emphasised the high burden of proof required to convict someone of a crime and said that conviction of an innocent person is rare.

"If persons are found guilty, there is a very rare chance that they will be innocent. Persons whose appeals are dismissed are to be treated as certainly guilty", he added.

Justice Thipsay questioned if the Gujarat government even had the power of remission, as according to the Cr.P.C, only the State that conducted the trial would have the power to decide. In this case, the trial was supposed to be held in Gujarat but the Supreme Court transferred the case to Maharashtra due to special reasons and the Supreme Court held that the Gujarat government has the power to decide on remission of the convict as the offence took place in Gujarat, he said.

Justice Thipsay underscored that life sentence means imprisonment till the end of natural life. However, after 14 years of continuous imprisonment, the state usually remits the sentence.

"Gangrape people are generally not to be granted remission. That is the policy. I don't know what Gujarat government has done about other gangrape convicts", he said.

Speaking about the procedural aspects of remission of sentences, he said,

"We can't say that the government doesn't have this power. When the power has been conferred with the government, it is expected that they will decide in the public interest. The state is supposed to act fairly".

He further said that the government should seek a report from the court before deciding on remission of the sentence as the judge knows the gravity of the offence. However, no such report was sought from the Bombay High Court.

He concluded by stating that it needed to be studied whether the Gujarat government has treated other similar cases in the same manner and granted remission to the convicts.

Justice (retd.) Abhay Thipsay has decided on notable cases such as the Best Bakery burning case which was also related to the 2002 Gujarat riots. He is currently the Chief Convenor of United Against Injustice and Discrimination, the organizer of the press conference.

Apart from Justice Thipsay, the other speakers were Senior Advocate Gayatri Singh, Judge (Retd) UD Salvi who convicted the men and others.