‘Victory of justice against BJP govt’s arrogance’: Rahul on Bilkis Bano case verdict

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday termed the Supreme Court’s verdict in Bilkis Bano case a “victory of justice against the arrogant BJP government”. Commenting on the Supreme Court’s verdict, the Congress leader said that the tendency to “kill justice” for electoral gains is dangerous for the democratic system.
“The tendency to ‘kill justice’ for electoral gains is dangerous for the democratic system. Today the Supreme Court’s decision once again told the country who is the ‘patron of criminals’. Bilkis Bano’s tireless struggle is a symbol of the victory of justice against the arrogant BJP government,” the Gandhi scion wrote on ‘X’.

Earlier today, the Supreme Court struck down Gujarat government’s August 15, 2023 decision to release the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case under 1992 remission and premature release policy.
Pronouncing the verdict, the Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice BV Nagarathna, ruled that Gujarat had no jurisdiction to grant remission to the convicts.
The top court directed all the 11 convicts to report to jail authorities within two weeks.
On August 15 last year, the Gujarat government had released 11 convicts in the case of gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her seven family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The Gujarat Government, the apex court said, usurped the power of the Maharashtra government and asked why it didn’t file a review petition seeking correction of the court’s May 13, 2022 order.
The Court noted that the competent authority to grant remission in the case of convicts is Maharashtra government under whose jurisdiction they were sentenced and not the Gujarat government under whose territorial limits the offence was committed.
“We strike down the remission orders on grounds of usurpation of powers by the Gujarat government,” the top court said.
Agencies