The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and Gujarat government in two weeks on a PIL demanding cancellation of remission of sentence to 11 lifers who were convicted for murdering 14 people and gangraping women, including Bilkis Bano, during the 2002 post-Godhra communal riots.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath sought responses from the two governments and said, “The only question arising in this case is whether the Gujarat government was justified in granting remission to these lifers. ” They scheduled the next hearing after two weeks.
Justice Rastogi said, “The question also is whether the committee applied the provisions of the Remission Rules to the facts of the case and whether the members of the Remission Committee applied their minds correctly or not. Was the grounds considered by the committee sufficient to warrant their release on grant of remission?”
Appearing for the three petitioners, politician social activist Subhasini Ali, journalist-turned author Revati Laul and human rights activist Roop Rekha Verma - senior advocate Kapil Sibal said these are only issues that are needed to be considered by the SC. “For considering these issues, the court should summon the records of the Remission Committee,” he suggested.
The SC also directed the petitioners to implead the 11 convicts as parties in the PIL after their advocate, Rishi Malhotra, protested against their omission and accusd the PIL petitioners of committing an improperiety by filing the plea without making those who were granted remission a party.
