Bilkis case remission illegal, fine also not paid, SC told | India News

NEW DELHI: Challenging remission of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano case, TMC MP Mahua Moitra and other petitioners contended before the Supreme Court that the Gujarat government’s decision to grant them premature release is illegal as there was no state policy and also the convicts did not complete their sentence to be eligible for remission as they did not pay the fine imposed on them by court while awarding them life imprisonment.

Countering the arguments of the convicts who submitted that the PIL filed by petitioners, which included a social activist, academician and politician, was maintainable and should not be entertained by the court, senior advocates Indira Jaising, Vrinda Grover and Aparna Bhatt submitted that the apex court had earlier taken cognisance of pleas by public-spirited individuals in many cases where survivors were not in a position to pursue a legal fight.
Pointing out the heinous offence committed against Bano and her family members when she was gangraped and 14 of her family members were killed, they submitted that where survivor is not in a position to intervene, then the court must monitor and entertain public interest litigation

Jaising, appearing for Moitra, submitted that there was no substantive remission policy in the State of Gujarat which talked about categories of crime which could be granted remission and the alleged policy only talked about the procedure to be followed. She said that in the absence of policy the governemnt had to follow the guidelines of the apex court pertaining to premature release of prisoners.
Advancing the arguments further against remission, Grover said, “The remission is illegal as a convict can be eligible for premature release only after serving the sentence. As they did not pay the fine so they have to complete the default sentence and the remission given to them interfered with the judicial proceedings,” she said, adding that the total fine on all counts comes to around Rs 34,000.
A batch of petitions was filed in the SC after the 11 convicts were granted remission last year. CPM’s Subhashini Ali, Revati Laul, an independent journalist, Roop Rekha Verma, ex-VC of Lucknow University, and Moitra are some of the petitioners.