New Delhi: The Supreme Court has listed the hearing of a batch of petitions against the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case on March 27. The case involves the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots, IANS reported.
A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna will hear a plea filed by Bilkis Bano and also pleas filed by several political and civil rights activists against the release of 11 convicts. This is after Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to form a fresh bench to hear the said batch of pleas.
In the plea, Bilkis Bano said the release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, to her grown-up daughters, to her family but also to the society at large.
The petition said: "The premature release of all the convicts came as a shock not only to the petitioner, to her grown-up daughters, to her family, but also to the society at large, nationally and internationally, and the society across segments had shown their anger, disappointment, distrust and protest to the clemency shown by the Government by releasing criminals like the 11 convicts of the case."
Terming the release order mechanical, the plea said the premature release of the convicts in the much-talked-about case of Bilkis Bano had shaken the conscience of the society and resulted in several agitations across the country.
On August 5 last year, the Gujarat government granted remission to all 11 convicts on the grounds of 'good behaviour'.