New Delhi: A 2-judge Supreme Court bench on Monday quashed the Gujarat government's August 2022 decision granting remission to 11 convicts in the case of the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano, and murder of seven of her family members, during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The bench, comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan, reserved the verdict on October 12 last year after holding hearings for 11 days in the case. Multiple pleas were filed challenging the remission, including one by Bilkis herself. Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra, CPI(M)'s Subhashini Ali too are among multiple petitioners in the case.
The convicts' release triggered massive outrage. Their remission and release from jail coincided with the 75th anniversary of India's independence, and came hours after prime minister Narendra Modi's address to the nation from the historic Red Fort in Delhi. (Agency)
