19 January 2024
The Supreme Court of India on Friday refused to extend the time sought by the convictsin the Bilkis Bano gangrape case to surrender. The court held that the reasons cited in their application do not prevent them from complying with the January 8 order to surrender in two weeks. The court found no merit in the reasons given by them to seek postponement of their surrender by January 20.
All 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 had moved the Supreme Court on Thursday asking more time to surrender.
The convicts had sought an extension of time due to ‘ill health’, ‘harvest of winter crops’, and ‘son’s marriage’, Bar and Bench reported.
This happened after the Gujarat government’s August 2022 decision to prematurely release 11 convicts facing life sentences was overturned by the Supreme Court of India last week and had ordered all of the prisoners who had been prematurely freed to return to prison within two weeks.