New Delhi, Jan. 10: On the Jan. 8 order of the Supreme Court overturning the relief the Gujarat government had granted to the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case of gangrape and murder of her family members during the 2002 riots, legal experts say Bilkis Bano case should act as a mechanism to ensure a more active process of ensuring justice. After the Supreme Court has done its duty, the onus now lies fairly on the government to ensure justice in various other pending cases.
According to Sanjay Hegde, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, “Some people had even given up hope that the court would help this deeply distressed woman again, given the government’s previous ‘successes’ in the Supreme Court. Thankfully, a bench made up of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan overturned the premature release order, ruling that Gujarat lacked the authority to do so and that the state of Maharashtra, to which the trial had been transferred and whose court had sentenced these men to life in prison, was the appropriate government.”
On any further request for remissions by these prisoners, Hegde said, “Even while the ruling was extremely cautious to overturn the remissions mainly on the technical grounds that the relevant authorities did not approve the order, one must also see today’s ruling as another hard-fought win for Bilkis. When another request for remission from these prisoners is made, it will be difficult for the Maharashtra state government to handle it in the same disorganized way as the state of Gujarat has. The ruling judge of the Mumbai court that sentenced these defendants would have to be consulted by the state of Maharashtra.”
On the due process of trial and appeal, the senior Supreme Court Lawyer said, “Not all women possess Bilkis Bano’s level of resilience. Generally,police inaction during the investigation prosecution and dilly-dallying process throughout the trial or appeal kill many a good, many a terrible case. Furthermore, it appears that the state is not actively working to ensure that justice is done to all of its citizens, includingthe weaker and minority groups. Perhaps Bilkis Bano case might serve as a useful springboard for implementing a more proactive system of securing justice.”
“This verdict is an indication of ensuring the rule of law. Hopefully, in future, the action of public authorities will be guided by the message given through this judgement and they will not act arbitrarily and in haste,” said MR Shamshad, a Supreme Court lawyer.
“The Supreme Court has done its duty. Now it is for the Government to see that, not only in this case, but in various other pending cases, there is no discriminatory treatment with citizens and the culture of the Rule of Law gets priority,” said Shamshad.
“My faith in Apex Court is affirmed. Bilkis Judgement means a lot for all females of this country. Judgement upheld justice for those who suffered and those in solidarity and for women of our country, in particular for Minority communities, said Anastasia Gill,a practicing advocate at Supreme Court and former member of Delhi Minority Commission.
“I appreciate the Apex Court sensitivity to such cases.They stood the ground for delivering justice to the victim’s family and fitting jolts to lower courts who play outside the procedures with lives of poor victims,” said Anastasia.