Former IPS & IFS Officers Move Supreme Court Challenging Remission Of Bilkis Bano Case Convicts

A Public Interest Litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court against the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case by a former woman police officer, a former woman Indian Foreign Service Officer, and a renowned academic with expertise on issues of public policy and governance.

The petition has been filed by Dr Meeran Chadha Borwankar(former IPS officer), Madhu Badhuri (former IFS officer), and activist Jagdeep Chokkar. A bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and BV Nagarathna tagged the petition along with the earlier petitions regarding the issue. Advocate Vrinda Grover appeared for the petitioners.

The petition has prayed for the setting aside of the remission order which directed the premature release from Godhra sub-jail of all 11 convicts who had been found guilty of the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and two others, and also convicted for murdering seven persons of her family including a 3 days' old infant and a 3 and a half year old girl child, during the targeted communal violence in the State of Gujarat in 2002.

The Petition also calls upon the need for transparency in the process of grant of remission or premature release, especially when the concerned individuals are convicts in hate crimes that caused not only "irreparable personal harm and injury to the victim-survivor, but also ruptured the chord of social harmony and left a deep gashing wound on society in rem."

It states that the order for the early release of the convicts raises serious questions of legality and propriety, especially in view of the heinous and gruesome crime of targeted gang-rape and murder of Muslims, including the barbaric killing of a 3 day old infant and a 3 and a half year old girl child and that the said order is wholly without jurisdiction, lacks authority of law and has been passed in flagrant violation of the mandate of Section 432(2) Cr.P.C.

The petition further submits that–

"Communally targeted hate crime in the form of multiple gangrapes and seven murders, in a manner as diabolical as the present case, is an offence against society at large, and no reasonable person can come to a different conclusion unless they are acting in a malafide and arbitrary manner. Such acts of reprieve when coming from the state executive send a wrong message to society, where sexual offenders are emboldened and the society turns further unsafe for women."

Additionally, the petitioner draws attention to news reports which provide that families of Muslims from the victim-survivor's village have started leaving the village in fear after the convicts were released. It states that the entire process of granting remission was rather opaque and that–

"The opacity with which the entire process was carried out, and continues to be so even today, does not instill public faith and confidence in the criminal justice system. There is a need to provide for guidance and transparency in such situations, where the State discloses its reasons and the relevant material it has relied on, to exercise its discretion in ordering premature release. Such executive acts cannot be secretive, arbitrary and beyond public scrutiny if the faith of the people in the majesty of rule of law is to be upheld."

The petition has been filed through Advocate Aakarsh Kamra and has been drafted by Soutik Banerjee,Mannath Tipnis and Devika Tulsiani.

CASE TITLE: Dr. Meeran Chadha Borwankar & Ors. v. State of Gujarat and Ors.