Supreme Court Seeks Responses from Gujarat and Maharashtra in Bilkis Bano Case

Mumbai, March 17: The Supreme Court issued a notice on Tuesday regarding the petition filed by two convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case. This case is linked to the post-Godhra riots of 2002. The convicts are challenging the 2017 Bombay High Court decision that upheld their conviction and sentence.

A bench comprising Justices Rajesh Bindal and Vijay Bishnoi has sought responses from the governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra concerning the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Bipinchandra Kanailal Joshi, also known as Lala Doctor, and Pradeep Ramanlal Modhia. The next hearing for this case is scheduled for May 5.

The petitioners are contesting the Bombay High Court’s ruling from May 4, 2017, which confirmed the trial court’s sentencing of 11 accused in the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of several of her family members, including her three-year-old daughter.

In its detailed judgment, the Bombay High Court not only upheld the sentences of the main accused but also made strong remarks against certain police and medical officials. The court stated, “It is clear that they were not only negligent in conducting the post-mortem but were also deliberately concealing information and suppressing crucial facts.”

Furthermore, the Bombay High Court noted that the actions of the police and medical officials constituted a chain of concealment aimed at protecting the criminals and erasing evidence to evade punishment.

In overturning the acquittal of several officials, the Bombay High Court found them guilty under Sections 201 and 218 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), while it deemed that the elements of the crime under Section 217 of the IPC were not established.

The court dismissed the appeals filed by the convicts against their sentences, stating, “We also uphold the sentences and convictions imposed by the trial court on accused numbers 1, 2, and 4 to 12.”

This criminal case is associated with the violence that erupted in Gujarat following the Godhra train fire in February 2002. Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped, and several of her family members were murdered.

Earlier, in January 2024, the Supreme Court annulled the Gujarat government’s remission granted to the 11 convicts. The court described these orders as “stale and similar,” declaring them legally invalid.

The court directed the convicts to surrender before prison authorities within two weeks. It ruled that the Gujarat government lacked the jurisdiction to grant remission and that the previous Supreme Court order allowing consideration for remission was obtained by concealing essential facts.

To ensure a fair trial, the Supreme Court transferred the case from Gujarat to Mumbai in 2004. In 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai convicted the 11 accused, sentencing them to life imprisonment for crimes including gang-rape and murder during the communal riots.