Supreme Court Asks Registry To Obtain Instructions From CJI For Listing Bilkis Bano Case Convicts' Application To Extend Time To Surrender
The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 18) agreed to hear applications filed by three of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case seeking an extension of time to surrender before jail authorities.Senior Advocate V Chitambaresh, appearing for the three convicts, mentioned the matter before a bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna seeking urgent listing tomorrow since the time to surrender is expiring...
The Supreme Court on Thursday (January 18) agreed to hear applications filed by three of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case seeking an extension of time to surrender before jail authorities.
Senior Advocate V Chitambaresh, appearing for the three convicts, mentioned the matter before a bench led by Justice BV Nagarathna seeking urgent listing tomorrow since the time to surrender is expiring on Sunday, January 21.
Justice Nagarathna said that the bench that passed the judgment in the Bilkis Bano case, comprising herself and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, has to be constituted to hear the applications. Accordingly, a direction was issued to the registry to seek orders from the Chief Justice of India for the constitution of the bench and the listing of the applications tomorrow.
The bench was told by another counsel that applications will be filed by other convicts also during the course of the day. Justice Nagarathna said that the applications will be listed together if they are in order. The court pronounced -
"It is mentioned on behalf of three of the respondents that applications have been filed for extension of time to surrender. Since the concerned bench has to be reconstituted, the registry to seek orders from the chief justice for the reconstitution of the bench and listing of these applications. It is submitted that the time expires on Sunday."
The applications have been filed by Govindbhai Nai, Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt, and Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana, who are among the 11 convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple murders and gang rapes against the backdrop of the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat but released by the Gujarat government in August 2022 after serving 14 years of sentence.
Govindbhai has sought four weeks of additional time citing his health issues and that he is the only caretaker of his aged parents. Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana has sought six weeks citing the reason of his son's marriage. Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt has sought six weeks citing the reason of the impending harvest of crops.
The convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment for gang raping Bilkis Bano and murdering several of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
On January 8, the Supreme Court set aside the remission orders passed by the Gujarat government which allowed the premature release of the convicts in August 2022 after serving 14 years of sentence. A bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, holding that the State of Gujarat lacked jurisdiction to grant remission in the case as the trial was held in the State of Maharashtra, granted two weeks time to the convicts to surrender.
After an 11-day-long hearing that began in August, a division bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan had reserved its judgment in this case on October 12. Advocate Shobha Gupta appeared for Bilkis, while Senior Advocates Indira Jaising, and advocates Vrinda Grover, Aparna Bhat, Nizamuddin Pasha, and Pratik R Bombarde represented various public interest litigants. Additional Solicitor-General SV Raju appeared for both the State of Gujarat and the Union of India. The now-released convicts were represented by Senior advocates Sidharth Luthra, Rishi Malhotra, S Guru Krishnakumar, Advocate Sonia Mathur, and others.
The reports about the judgment can be read here.
Case Title
Bilkis Yakub Rasool v. Union of India & Ors. | Writ Petition (Criminal) No. 491 of 2022