Supreme Court Dismisses Gujarat Govt's Review Petition Challenging Adverse Remarks Against It In Bilkis Bano Case Judgment

The Supreme Court has dismissed the review petition filed by the State of Gujarat against remarks against it in the Supreme Court judgment that set aside the premature release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.

The Court also dismissed the review petitions field by the convicts.

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said that there is no apparent error on the face of the record or merit in the review petitions.

“Having carefully gone through the Review Petitions, the order under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the Review Petitions, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The Review Petitions are, accordingly, dismissed”, the order states.

While setting aside the remission of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, the Supreme Court in January slammed the Gujarat government, stating that it had acted in tandem with the convict who had moved the Court seeking a direction for the consideration of his premature release application. In the convict's writ petition, the Court had in May 2022 held the State of Gujarat to be the appropriate government for considering the remission plea, triggering the series of events that resulted in the release of all 11 life termers.

These convicts, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple murders and gang rapes during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, were released by the Gujarat government in August 2022, on Independence Day. Subsequently, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Bilkis Bano and allowed her writ petition assailing the remission. The Court held that the State of Gujarat was not the 'appropriate government' to decide their remission pleas within the meaning of Section 432 of the CrPC, as the trial had been transferred to Maharashtra.

The State in its review petition claimed that it acted in accordance with the Supreme Court's direction from May 2022. The state contended that it could not be accused of "usurping" jurisdiction from the State of Maharashtra, as it was acting as per the Court's order.

The State of Gujarat argued that it had consistently maintained before the Court that Maharashtra was the appropriate government to handle the remission pleas under the CrPC.

Gujarat claimed that the Court's severe remarks—suggesting the state acted "in tandem" with one of the convicts—were unwarranted and prejudicial.

Case no. – Review Petition (Crl.) No.262/2024 In Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 491/2022

Case Title – State of Gujarat v. Bilkis Yakub Rasool and Ors.