Bilkis Bano Case Convict Moves Supreme Court Seeking 4 Weeks Extension Of Time To Surrender In Jail

A convict in the Bilkis Bano case has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time by four weeks to surrender before the jail authorities.

The application is filed by Govindbhai Nai, one among the eleven persons who were convicted for gangrape of Bilkis Bano and murders of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. On January 8, the Supreme Court had 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.

In the application, Govindbhai said that he is looking after his 88-year old father and 75-year old mother. He claimed that he is the only caretaker of his parents. The applicant, aged 55 years, said that he "himself is an old man who is suffering from Asthma and in really poor health".