The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the interim bail petitions filed by Radheyshyam Bhagwandas and Rajubhai Babulal, who were convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family during the 2002 Gujarat riots in Godhra.
The two men sought temporary release until the court ruled on a fresh remission plea, challenging a January verdict that cancelled their release by the Gujarat government on Independence Day in 2022.
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In March, Bhagwandas and Babulal appealed the January verdict, arguing it contradicted a 2002 order by the Constitution bench. They requested that the issue of their remission in the Bilkis Bano case cancellation by the Gujarat government be referred to a larger bench, claiming an “anomalous” situation had arisen due to differing views of Supreme Court benches on the state’s early release policy.
The plea stated that a May 2022 bench directed the state to consider Bhagwandas’ early release, while the January verdict declared Maharashtra, not Gujarat, was competent to grant remission. The petitioners argued this created judicial uncertainty and impropriety and sought a direction for the center to consider their premature release, clarifying which judgment—May 2022 or January 2024—was applicable.
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Advocate Rishi Malhotra, representing Bhagwandas and Babulal, highlighted the confusion created by the two court decisions, urging the court to allow them to approach the authority. However, Justice Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the plea as “absolutely misconceived,” emphasizing that the court was not sitting in appeal over public interest litigation (PIL).
In its January judgment, the court criticized its May 2022 ruling in the Bilkis Bano case, noting that the Gujarat government should have sought its review. The court highlighted that the release was ordered based on a 1992 remission policy, superseded by a 2014 law, and subsequently sent the 11 convicts back to jail.
In August 2022, the 11 convicts, serving life sentences, were granted premature release after the state accepted their remission pleas under the 1992 policy, citing their “good conduct.” However, the Supreme Court criticized the Gujarat government for “usurping” the power of its Maharashtra counterparts to grant remission to the convicts.
Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, was raped during the 2002 riots, and her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
