Bilkis Bano Case: Supreme Court rejects petition to extend surrender period of convicts, will have to surrender till 21

Posted on 19th Jan 2024 by rohit kumar

The 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case have received a setback from the Supreme Court. The court on Friday rejected the petition in which the convicts had demanded to extend the deadline to surrender. The time for the culprits to surrender is ending on January 21.

 

 

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan said that the reasons given by the convicts have no merit. The bench further said, 'We heard everyone's arguments. The reasons given by the applicants for postponing surrender and reporting back to jail have no substance. Therefore the applications are rejected.

The five convicts in the Bilkis Bano case on Thursday sought more time from the Supreme Court to surrender. The Supreme Court had recently canceled the remission given by the Gujarat government. It is noteworthy that during the 2002 Gujarat riots, Bilkis Bano was gang-raped and seven members of her family were murdered.

 

The Gujarat government was reprimanded

The Gujarat government had granted remission to eleven convicts in this high-profile case. But, the apex court canceled it on January 8. Additionally, the court had rapped the state government, saying it was in 'collusion' with one of the accused. The convicts were given a premature release on Independence Day 2022. The Supreme Court had ordered to put the culprits back in jail within two weeks.

 

Place application before CJI: Bench

The culprits had sought an extension in the surrender deadline citing ill health, surgery, son's marriage, and harvesting of ripe crops. The applications came up before a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Sanjay Karol, which asked the court's permanent secretariat (registry) to place the applications before Chief Justice (CJI) DY Chandrachud.

 

The bench will be reorganized

The bench had said, 'Applications have been filed to extend the time limit for surrender and sending him to jail. The bench has to be reorganized. The registry needs to seek permission from the CJI to reconstitute the bench, as the time (to surrender the convicts) is ending on Sunday.

 

Lawyer requested hearing

Senior advocate V Chimbresh appeared on behalf of some of the convicts. He had requested the top court to hear the case on Friday, citing January 21 as the surrender deadline. The five convicts who have sought relief from the Supreme Court include Govind Nai, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Ramesh Chandna, and Mitesh Bhatt.

 

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