The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 5th May 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Strategic timeout

Why in News?

It is disconcerting when a judge is impelled to say that he discerns in the tactics adopted by the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, an intent to avoid his Bench. The convicts were released last year. Justice K.M. Joseph’s remarks that it was more than obvious that there was an attempt to avoid his Bench came in response to requests for adjournments on behalf of some of the convicts claiming they had not yet been served notice of Ms. Bano’s petition challenging their release. 

What is the Bilkis Bano case?

• Gujarat had turned violent after the Sabarmati train was burnt in Godhra on 27 February 2002 when 59 karsevaks were killed in the train.
• Fearing the outbreak of violence, a then five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano fled from her village with her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and 15 other family members.
• They were attacked by about 20-30 people whereas Bilkis, her mother, and three other women were raped and brutally assaulted.
• Only Bilkis, a man, and a three-year-old survived the attack.
• Her case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Supreme Court, which ordered an investigation by the CBI.

What happened in the case?

• The accused in the case were arrested in 2004 and the trial was moved out of Gujarat to Maharashtra after Bilkis Bano received death threats.
• In 2008, the Special CBI Court sentenced 11 accused to life imprisonment on the charges of conspiring to rape a pregnant woman, murder and unlawful assembly under the Indian Penal Code.
• The court acquitted seven other accused for lack of evidence.
• The Bombay High Court, in 2017, upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 11 people in the gang rape case.
• In 2019, the Supreme Court awarded compensation of Rs 50 lakh to Bilkis — the first such order in a case related to the 2002 riots.

Why have the convicts been released now?

• One of the convicts had approached the Gujarat High Court seeking remission of the sentence under sections 432 and 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• The high court dismissed his plea while observing that the “appropriate government” to take a decision about his remission is Maharashtra, and not Gujarat.
• He then filed a plea in the Supreme Court, pleading that he had been in jail for over 15 years without remission as of 1 April 2022.
• The apex court directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence following which the government formed a committee.
• The committee took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the case.

Why is the remission criticized?

• Against treating crimes as heinous- The remission runs contrary to the spirit of contemporary thinking on treating crimes against women and children as so heinous that the perpetrators should not be considered for remission.
• No premature release- The Cr.P.C. does permit premature release in the form of remission or commutation in life sentences, but it should be based on a legal and constitutional scheme, and not on a ruler’s whimsy.
• Political considerations- Any decision on remission should be linked to the convict’s expression of regret and some promise of reform.
• It would be unjustified if given for political considerations merely because of elapse of the minimum number of years they have to serve.