Bilkis Bano: Gujarat HC rejects 2 convicts' parole plea
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Ahmedabad: In the Bilkis Bano case, the Gujarat High Court expressed its disinclination to grant parole, and two convicts who applied for the same withdrew their pleas on Thursday, The Indian Express reported.
Earlier, the high court had granted parole to two other convicts after their surrender before the Godhra sub-jail on January 21. Supreme Court had ordered the 11 convicts in the gang rape case to surrender, cancelling the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government.
The convicts, also brothers Mitesh Bhatt and Shailesh Bhatt, demanded parole to attend "Navchandi and Vaastu puja". Their counsel, Khushbu Vyas, told the court of Justice Divyesh Joshi that both were in jail for a long.
The judge said the application was rejected, and following that, the counsel requested to withdraw the plea, which the court allowed.
Earlier, the court allowed Ramesh Chandana parole on February 23 for 10 days to attend the wedding of his nephew, and Pradip Modhiya was granted parole on February 5 for five days after his father-in-law's death. It was Judge Joshi who granted parole to Chandana, too.
The data shared by the Gujarat government showed discrepancies in convicts, among the 11 in the case, surrendering after enjoying long periods of parole. Shailesh enjoyed 934 days of parole on 17 instances, surrendering by a delay of four days once and two days another time. He was also granted 163 days of furlough. Meanwhile, Mitesh was granted 771 days of parole and 234 days of furlough in 11 instances during his period of incarceration. Mitesh had surrendered late by 39 days once and by one day another time while on parole, reports The Indian Express.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang raped during the 2002 Gujarat riots. She was fleeing with her family from Randhikpur during the riots that broke out following the Sabarmati train burning. During the incident, 14 members of her family were killed, along with her three-year-old daughter.