The Gujarat government has refused to reveal the file notings of the recommendations made by the remission committee for the premature release of the 11 life convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
According to a Times of India report, Ahmedabad-based RTI activist Pankti Jog had asked for details about the release of the 2002 case convicts on the following points:
> Terms of reference for the remission committees in the last five years
> Minutes of meetings of these committees
> Names of prisoners recommended for release along with reasons
> Noting of the file along with the criteria for selection of members of the remission committee for the release of jail inmates on the occassion of 75th Independence Day anniversary.
She asked for these details on 20 August, five days after the 11 Hindu convicts were released on Independence Day.
The state government on 15 August this year, granted remission to 11 Hindu men convicted of gang-raping Bilkis Bano, who was pregnant at the time, and murdering seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, during the riots following the Sabarmati Express fire in Gujarat's Godhra.
The 11 had spent 15 years in prison at the time of their remission.
Without answering Jog's questions directly, the report mentioned that the government has instead provided:
> The state home department's resolutions and documents related to the formation of the remission committees
> It has said that under the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the government decided to free prisoners in three phases ( the two remaining phases would be 26 January 2023 & 15 August 2023)
> The decision, the government said, was taken according to its 13 May resolution
> The state home department further said that the formation of the remission panel and the process of remission have taken place under the Centre's guidelines on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav scheme
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)