The Supreme Court on Monday said it would apply a three-point test - Mumbai trial court judge’s negative opinion, heinousness of the offence and their release when life convicts in other cases are languishing for decades - to determine validity of the Gujarat government’s controversial decision to grant remission to 11 lifers in the Bilkis Bano case involving gang rape and murders. The Gujarat government had on August 10 last year granted remission to the lifers in the post-Godhra communal riots case, the trial of which was transferred to Mumbai from Gujarat on the orders of the court, as they had served more than 15 years in prison and reportedly shown good conduct in jail. However, it also stated that the trial court judge in Mumbai as well as the CBI, had opined against grant of remission to the convicts as they committed heinous offences.
Brushing aside the convicts’ challenge to the locus standi of PIL petitioners, including Subhashini Ali and Mahua Moitra, in criminal cases, a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna issued fresh notices to the state, Centre and the convicts on all petitions, including the one filed by Bilkis Bano. The SC said Bano’s petition would be treated as the lead petition and posted further hearing on April 18.
The bench asked convict’s counsel Rishi Malhotra: “What do you say about total lack of jurisdiction (of Gujarat government)? Can SC (through its May 13, 2022 judgment) direct a body which had no jurisdiction to decide the remission? Even if it is palpably wrong, can the SC take a contrary view when the review plea (against May 13 judgment) is dismissed?” Malhotra said the Bombay HC as well as the SC had ruled that the Gujarat government was the appropriate government under Section 432 of the Criminal Procedure Code to consider the convicts’ plea for remission. On appeal, the SC had on May 13 last year upheld it and had asked Gujarat to consider the pleas as per the 1992 remission policy. Malhotra said Bilkis Bano’s plea for review of the May 13 judgment has been dismissed by the SC.
“The only remedy available to her is to file a curative petition, not a writ petition,” he said.