Bilkis Bano on Wednesday, 30 November, moved the Supreme Court (SC) to challenge the Gujarat government's decision to release 11 convicts who had gang-raped her and murdered her family during the 2002 Godhra riots.
What has Bilkis approached SC for?: There are two pleas by Bilkis:
A writ petition challenging the premature release of the 11 convicts
A review petition against the Supreme Court's decision taken in May this year allowing the Gujarat Government to make a decision on the remission of the convicts.
What Bilkis Bano said: On 1 December, Bilkis Bano released a statement. In it, she says, "The decision to once again stand up and knock on the doors of justice was not easy for me. For a long time after the men who destroyed my entire family and my life were released, I was simply numb."
"But, the spaces of my silence were filled with other voices; voices of support from different parts of the country that have given me hope in the face of unimaginable despair."
The full text of Bilkis Bano's statement on 1 December, on the release of the men who raped her and killed her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
What Bilkis Bano's lawyer said: Speaking to The Quint, lawyer Shobha Gupta said that not much can be divulged at this stage. They, however, approached the SC on grounds that the Gujarat government is "not the appropriate authority to grant remission to the convicts."
What the Supreme Court said: The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud for listing.
CJI Chandrachud reportedly said that he will examine the issue whether both pleas can be heard together and if they can be heard before the same bench, news agency ANI reported.
Recap of the case: The 11 convicted men were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Mumbai court in 2008 for gang-raping Bano and killing seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, amid the riots. The sentence was also upheld by the Bombay High Court.
After serving 15 years of his sentence, Radheshyam Shah approached the Supreme Court seeking remission of the sentence and his premature release.
The court then passed on the matter to the Gujarat government, which took advice from an advisory committee and decided to release them under a 1992 remission policy.
The 11 convicts — Jaswantbhai Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radheshyam Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Mordhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Bhatt, and Ramesh Chandana — were released on 15 August this year, leading to a nationwide outcry.
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