SC denies Bilkis Bano rapists more time to surrender

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by 11 convicts in the case of gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in Gujarat seeking an extension of time to surrender.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the reasons cited by the convicts have no merits.

"We have heard senior counsel and counsel for the applicants and the counsel for the non-applicants also. The reasons cited by applicants to seek postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit inasmuch as those reasons in no way prevent them from complying with our directions. Hence the miscellaneous applications are dismissed," the bench said.

The top court on January 8 had quashed the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case, saying the orders were "stereotyped" and passed without application of mind.

It had asked the convicts to surrender before jail authorities by January 21.

The 11 convicts were sentenced to life in prison for gangrape and multiple counts of murder during the Godhra riots. The Gujarat government granted remission of sentences to all of them in August 2022 after they served just 14 years in jail.

The Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that the Gujarat government was not the competent authority to grant remission since the trial was held in Maharashtra.