Bilkis Bano case

Bilkis Bano case, is a murder and gang rape case, that occurred amidst mob violence in Gujarat during 2002 Gujarat riots. The case gained national and international attention, as an indictment of the systemic failures in addressing violence and crimes against women during heightened communal tensions and the struggle for justice and accountability in India thence.

Background

During the 2002 Gujarat riots in India, Bilkis Yakub Rasool, who was five-month pregnant at the time, fled her home in the village of Randhikpur with 16 other members, in an attempt to escape the violence sweeping the region after the Godhra Incident.[1] The group sought refuge in the Chhaparvad but were attacked by a mob of 20–30 men armed with sickles, swords, and stones who killed fourteen of Bilkis' family members, of which eight minors included her three year old daughter, two brothers, two sisters, two cousins and a cousin's two day old infant, and six other members include her mother, two cousins, maternal uncle, paternal uncle and paternal aunt. Twelve men from the mob were named convicts in gang-rape of her, her mother and her cousin Shamim, who had delivered a baby two days ago.[2] Out of the 17, only Bilkis and two men survived the attack.[1]

Criminal proceeding

A first information report (FIR) was registered on 4 March 2002 against unknowns. The Godhra police filed a closure report stating that the accused could not be traced which was accepted by Judicial Magistrate despite the evidence.[1] After dismissal of the case against her assailants, Bano approached the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) and petitioned the Supreme Court seeking a reinvestigation. The Supreme Court granted the motion, directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the investigation. The CBI appointed a team of experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) Delhi and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) led by Professor T. D. Dogra to exhume the mass graves to establish the identity and cause of death of the victims, successfully doing so.[3]

The trial of the case was transferred out of Gujarat on the fears of bias in the judiciary towards the perpetrators and into a court in Mumbai, Maharashtra in August 2004. The union government was directed to appoint a public prosecutor.[4][5] Charges were filed against twenty people as well as six police officials and two government doctors over their role in the initial investigations in a court in Mumbai.[2]

In January 2008, eleven men were sentenced to life imprisonment for rapes and murders and a policeman was convicted of falsifying evidence.[6] The Bombay High Court upheld the life imprisonment of the eleven men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots on 8 May 2017. The court also set aside the acquittal of the remaining seven accused in the case, including Gujarat police officers and doctors of a government hospital, who were charged with suppressing and tampering with evidence.[7]

Civil compensation

On 23 April 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the Government of Gujarat pay Bano ₹50 lakh as compensation, along with a job in the government and housing in the area of her choice.[8] It is the first riot case to be transferred out of Gujarat to the Supreme court as well as the first riot case to result in a monetary compensation to the victim.[9]

Remission

In 2019, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, one of the men convicted in the case approached the Gujarat High court challenging non-consideration of his application for premature release under section 432, 433 and 433A of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrCP), 1973 which recommended seeking remedy in the state of Maharashtra which received negative report by CBI special court, Mumbai in 2020. Other convicts also applied for remission in February 2021.[2]

In March 2022, Bhagwandas Shah approached the Supreme Court that the Gujarat State Government had an obligation to consider his early release as per the state’s 1992 remission policy. State governments may enact remission policies to allow individuals or certain classes of individuals to file applications for early release from prison.[10] The Supreme Court allowed the transfer of conclusion and conviction of the trial to the state of Gujarat and observed precedent set by State of Haryana vs. Jagdish, (2010) 4 SCC 216 (“Jagdish”), that grant of premature release will have to be considered on the basis of policy which stood as of the date of conviction, which was the 1992 remission policy passed by the state of Gujarat.[2]

The Superintendent of Police, Dahod, District Magistrate, Dahod, Jail Advisory Committee of Gujarat, the superintendent of Godhra Sub-jail and Prisons and Correctional Administration, Gujarat had submitted positive reports on the premature release while Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and the concerning trial court in Mumbai had submitted negative reports.[2] All ten members of jail advisory committee of Gujarat were government appointees and included five office bearers in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state government at that the time of the riots, among which two were MLAs.[11] A BJP MLA, one of the panelists, has said that some of the convicts are "Brahmins" with good 'sanskaar' or values.[12]

Based on the reports and the Supreme Court order, the Department of Home Affairs, Gujarat, gained approval of premature release by Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India under section 435 of CrPC in August 2022.[2] On 15 August 2022, the eleven men sentenced to life imprisonment in the case were released from a Godhra jail by the Gujarat government.[13] The judge who sentenced the rapists stated that the early release by the Gujarat government sets a bad precedent and warned that the move would have wide ramifications with convicts opting to seek similar reliefs.[14]

After being released from the jail, they were welcomed with sweets and their feet touched in respect.[15] Two days after the remission, Bilkis Bano issued a statement expressing her grief at the release of her rapists stating, "The release of these convicts has taken from me my peace and shaken my faith in justice."[16][17] Many Muslims from her village left their homes due to safety concerns.[18]

Supreme Court decision on remission

On 18 August 2022, around 6,000 signatories, including activists, eminent writers, historians, filmmakers, journalists and former bureaucrats, urged the Supreme Court to revoke the early release of the convicted individuals,[19] while parties in the opposition such as the INC criticized the BJP.[20] The convicts harassed the witnesses of the case when they were out on parole as recently as 2021, which added to the criticism of the remission.[21]

A few days later, the Supreme Court agreed to look into plea challenging the release.[22] A bench comprising Chief Justice of India N. V. Ramana, Justice Ajay Rastogi, and Justice Vikram Nath however posed a query with respect to the legal bar on grant of remission to the convicts.[23]

On 8 January 2024, Supreme Court of India has held that the Gujarat government was not competent to grant remission because the remission could only be granted by the government of the state where the trial was held, namely Maharashtra.[24] The Court struck down the remission granted to the 11 men who had been sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered that the men surrender themselves to the authorities within 15 days.[25] All 11 convicts surrendered at the Godhra sub-jail on 21 January 2024, shortly before the expiry of the deadline set by the Supreme Court.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "In Her Own Words: What Bilkis Bano Went Through in 2002". The Wire. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "In the Supreme Court of India Criminal Original Jurisdiction Writ Petition (Crl.) No. 491 of 2022 - Bilkis Yakub Rasool Versus Union of India & Others" (PDF). Supreme Court of India. 8 Jan 2024.
  3. ↑ "The meticulous seven, and a seven-day hunt for proof-Amitabh Sinha". The Indian Express. New Delhi. 21 January 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "A hopeful Bilkis goes public". Deccan Herald. India. 9 August 2004. Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  5. ↑ "Second riot case shift". The Telegraph. 7 August 2004. Archived from the original on 3 September 2004. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Jeremy Page (23 January 2008). "Rape victim Bilkis Bano hails victory for Muslims as Hindu assailants are jailed for life". The Times. London. Retrieved 4 February 2011.
  7. ↑ "Bilkis Bano gangrape case verdict: Bombay HC convicts 5 Gujarat cops, 2 doctors, upholds life for 11". The Indian Express. 5 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "SC orders Gujarat govt to pay ₹50 lakh compensation to Bilkis Bano". The Hindu. 23 April 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  9. ↑ Katakam, Anupama (2022-08-16). "All 11 persons convicted of rape in 2002 Bilkis Bano case released". Frontline. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  10. ↑ "Early Release of Bilkis Bano Gangrape Convicts". Supreme Court Observer. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  11. ↑ Iyer, Arunabh Saikia & Aishwarya (2022-08-18). "Gujarat ignored trial court's opinion as board with five BJP members set Bilkis Bano convicts free". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2026-07-28.
  12. ↑ PTI (2022-08-19). "Some convicts in Bilkis Bano case are 'Brahmins with good sanskaar', says Gujarat BJP MLA". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-01-09.
  13. ↑ "Bilkis Bano gangrape: 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment released from jail". Scroll.in. 16 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Bilkis Bano case: Gujarat has set bad precedent by releasing convicts, says judge who sentenced them". Scroll.in. 19 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Bilkis Bano case convicts greeted with sweets; Owaisi questions PM Modi". Hindustan Times. 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  16. ↑ "Bilkis Bano: The pain of seeing my rapists go free". BBC News. 2022-08-18. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
  17. ↑ Pal, Sumedha (16 August 2022). "'I Fear For Our Future': Bilkis Bano's Husband on Release of 11 Convicts". The Wire. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  18. ↑ Dahiya, Himanshi (2022-08-25). "'Won't Go Back Till Convicts Out': Muslims Leave Bilkis Bano's Village Overnight". The Quint. Retrieved 2022-08-29.
  19. ↑ "Over 6,000 Signatories Urge SC to Revoke Early Release of Convicts in Bilkis Bano Case". The Wire. 18 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  20. ↑ "'Real Face' of New India: Opposition Slams Modi Over Release of Bilkis Bano Case Convicts". The Wire. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  21. ↑ Pathak, Maulik (2022-08-20). "Bilkis case convicts threatened witnesses in past, show records". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
  22. ↑ Scroll Staff (2022-08-23). "Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court says it will look into plea challenging release of 11 convicts". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2022-08-23.
  23. ↑ "Chief Justice N V Ramana also asked the petitioners to implead those who have been granted remission as parties in the matter". Big Mirror News. 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  24. ↑ "Bilkis Bano case: SC says Gujarat government not competent to remit sentences of 11 convicts". Hindustan Times. 2024-01-08. Retrieved 2024-01-08.
  25. ↑ "बिलकिस बानो केस 2002 :दोषियों को सज़ा, रिहाई और रिहाई निरस्त". www.cheggindia.com (in Hindi). 2024-10-14. Retrieved 2025-02-10.
  26. ↑ "Close to deadline, Bilkis Bano case convicts surrender, reach Godhra jail". The Indian Express. 22 January 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2026.
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