On Tuesday, Justice Bela M. Trivedi of the Supreme Court withdrew from hearing the petition filed by Bilkis Bano, a survivor of gangrape during the Gujarat riots, which criticised the Gujarat government’s decision to commute the sentences of 11 prisoners who had gang raped and killed her family members in the 2002 Godhra riots.
the matter was heard by a bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela Trivedi when Justice Trivedi decided to step aside from the case. In the wake of the 2002 riots, Bano was gang raped, and her three-year-old daughter was one of twelve persons who were murdered by a mob in the Gujarati district of Dahod’s Limkheda taluka.
On May 13, the Supreme Court decided that the remission of the defendants in the case should be taken into consideration in accordance with the policy in effect at the time of their conviction in the State where the crime was really committed.
This news is written by Ms. Amrita Singh, Research Assistant, All India Legal Forum.
ALL INDIA LEGAL FORUM 