The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a petition filed by the Gujarat government seeking a review of critical remarks made by the court against it in the verdict quashing the remission granted to 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano case, Live Law reported.
On January 8, the Supreme Court had quashed the Gujarat government’s order granting remission to 11 men convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for raping Bilkis Bano and murdering 14 members of her family during the 2002 communal riots in the state.
In its review petition filed in February, the state government had said that certain comments in the verdict were “not only highly unwarranted and against the record of the case, but…caused serious prejudice to the state”.
On Thursday, a bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, while hearing the review petition, said that there was no merit in it, according to Live Law.
“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 court said.
In its January order, the bench held that the Supreme Court’s order in May 2022 directing the Gujarat government to decide the remission was secured by suppressing facts and fraud played on the court.
Radheshyam Shah, one of the convicts, had suppressed material facts to get a favourable order, which led to the release of all convicts, the court had said.
The review petition had argued that the court’s observation that Gujarat “acted in tandem and was complicit with accused” had caused great prejudice to the state.
The state government had sought the removal of remarks against it, arguing that it had only acted as per the Supreme Court judgement of May 2022.
Holding the state of Gujarat guilty of “usurpation of power” and “abuse of discretion” in its order was an “error apparent on the face of the record”, the review petition had contended.
Also read: ‘Act of fraud’: Why Supreme Court sent Bilkis Bano case gangrape-murder convicts back to jail
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