Why all 11 life imprisonment convicts in Bilkis Bano case were released

(Trigger warning: This story contains some details about rape and violence in the case.)

The Gujarat government on Monday (August 15) released all 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002 post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang-rape case. The convicts, who have served more than 15 years in jail, were released under the state government's remission policy.

A court in Mumbai on January 21, 2008, had sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charges of gang-raping and murdering seven members of Bilkis Bano's family.

Why were the convicts released? The 11 convicts had served more than 15 years in jail, after which one of them approached the apex court with a plea for his premature release.

The SC had directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence following which the government formed a committee, said Panchmahals Collector Sujal Mayatra, who headed the panel, reported PTI.

"A committee formed a few months back took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case. The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we received the orders for their release," said Mayatra.

The 11 convicts: Radheshyam Shah, Jaswant Chaturbhai Nai, Keshubhai Vadaniya, Bakabhai Vadaniya, Rajibhai Soni, Rameshbhai Chauhan, Shaileshbhai Bhatt, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Govindbhai Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradip Modhiya walked out of jail on Monday.

The gruesome crime: After the violence erupted following the burning of a Sabarmati Express coach that killed 59 'karsevaks 'on February 27, 2002, Bilkis Bano fled her village with her toddler daughter and 15 others.

Bilkis and her family members, who were taking shelter in afield, were attacked by a mob at Randhikpur village in Limkheda taluka of the Dahod district. Bilkis, who was five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed, reported PTI. Four other women of her family were raped.

The probe and the trial: After the outrage over the incident, the SC had ordered a CBI probe. All the 11 accused in the case were arrested in 2004.

The trial began in Ahmedabad, but later the SC transferred  the case to Mumbai after Bilkis expressed apprehensions that witnesses could be harmed and the evidence could be tampered with.

The sentencing: On January 21, 2008, a special CBI court sentenced the 11 accused to life imprisonment. They were convicted on charges of conspiring to rape a pregnant woman, murder and unlawful assembly under the IPC. The court acquitted seven others while one of the accused died during the trial.

In 2018, the Bombay HC, upholding the conviction of the accused persons, set aside the acquittal of seven persons.

Plea for remission: One of convicts, Radheshyam Shah, approached the Gujarat HC seeking remission of the sentence under sections 432 and 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The HC dismissed his plea and said that the "appropriate government" to decide about his remission was Maharashtra and not Gujarat.

He then filed a plea in the SC pleading that he had been in jail for 15 years and 4 months without remission as of April 1, 2022. On May 13, 2022, the SC said that since the crime was committed in Gujarat, the state of Gujarat should examine Shah's application.

The SC directed the Gujarat government to consider the application for premature release and may decide within two months.

Remission in such cases not common: Human rights lawyer Shamshad Pathan told PTI that a large number of convicts who have committed less heinous crimes than in the Bilkis case continue to languish in jails without any remission.

"There are several accused whose conviction term is over but they are not released from jails on the grounds that they are part of some gang or are involved in one or two murders. But in heinous cases like this, the Gujarat government easily approves the remission of the convicts and allows them to walk out of the jail," said Pathan.