Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing Petition By Bilkis Bano Till February
New Delhi, 4th January 2023: The petition against the release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case has been adjourned till February in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said that the petitions filed by the social workers would also be heard along with the petition of the victim. During the hearing held on Wednesday, the Gujarat government also presented its side. On behalf of the state government, it was said that it had released the prisoners only as per the order of the court. Earlier, the court had, on 17th December, dismissed the review petition of Bilkis Bano. Bano has challenged the acquittal of 11 convicts in his petition.
Justice Bela M Trivedi has once again avoided the hearing. Last month too, he was able to avoid the hearing. However, he has not given the reason for this.
Riots broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. During the riots, Bilkis Bano was gang-raped; she was 21 years old then. During this, the rioters also killed seven members of Bano’s family. The investigation of the case was handed over to the CBI, and the Supreme Court transferred the trial to a court in Maharashtra.
In 2002, 11 people convicted of gang rape and murder were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mumbai court. After this, the above courts also upheld this sentence. But on 15th August 2022, the Gujarat government gave them release.
