New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday approved a new plea from a women’s organization challenging the pardon and release of convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape case, which also saw seven of her family members killed in the trial. Gujarat riots.
A bench of judges Ajay Rastogi and CT Ravikumar labeled the case as the main petition and said it would be considered along with the petition.
The highest court heard a plea from the National Federation of Indian Women challenging the pardon and release of convicts in the case.
The court had said on Oct. 18 that the response from the Gujarat government to petitions challenging the waiver is very extensive, citing a series of judgments but lacking factual statements.
It gave the petitioners time to submit their response to the Gujarat government’s affidavit and said it will hear the matter on November 29.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the train incident in Godhra. Her three-year-old daughter was one of seven family members who died.
The 11 men convicted in the case left Godhra sub-prison on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release as part of its remission policy. They had been in prison for over 15 years.
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