Bilkis case | 'Gujarat govt abused its power': SC directs 11 convicts to surrender within 2 weeks

The Supreme Court on Monday quashed the remission to 11 men convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots and ordered that they be sent back to jail within two weeks. The Supreme Court also accused the Gujarat government of abusing its power. Reports ETV Bharat's Sumit Saxena.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday directed the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case to surrender before jail authorities in Gujarat within two weeks, saying “compassion and sympathy have no role to play where rule of law is required to be enforced”.

After quashing the remission granted to the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, a bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said the convicts be sent back to jail within two weeks.

"Should all the accused be sent back to prison? Whether the accused in the case must have the benefit of their liberty despite being granted remission from an incompetent authority, and also fraudulently obtaining the order from the apex court?" Justice Nagarathna remarked and said it had been a "delicate question" to answer for the court, and noted petitioners’ counsel contention that accused can be granted remission only in accordance with law.

Justice Nagarathna, detailing scores of questions which have arisen before the court, asked when is liberty of the person protected? "Can a person’s liberty be protected in breach or violation of law? In other words, should rule of law prevail over personal liberty of a person or vice-versa? Should the scales of justice tilt against rule of law? In upholding rule of law, is the court depriving the accused their right to freedom?" the Judge observed

“We wish to make it clear that only when rule of law prevails, liberty and all other fundamental rights would prevail in our Constitution, including right to equality and equal protection of law as enshrined in Article 14 (of the Constitution)….Can breach of law be ignored to protect a person’s liberty? We wish to reiterate what this court has spoken on rule of law through its various judgments, rule of law means whenever state fails to perform its duties, the court shall step in to ensure the rule of law prevails…”, said the bench.

In its more than 100-page judgment, the Supreme Court said the Gujarat government was not the appropriate government to pass the remission order. It clarified that the state in which an offender is tried and sentenced is competent to decide the remission plea of convicts. The convicts were tried in Maharashtra.

"We need not have gone into the other issues. But for sake of completion, we have. Rule of law is breached because the Gujarat government usurped power not vested in it and abused its power. On that ground also, the remission orders deserve to be quashed," the bench said.

Justice Nagarathna said the breach of rule of law amounts to negation of equality in Article 14 of the Constitution and more importantly, rule of law means no one, high or low, is above the law. “There can be no rule of law if there is no equality before the law…..in our view, this court must be a beacon in upholding the rule of law…..in a democracy, rule of law is of essence, it has to be preserved and enforced particularly by courts of law. Compassion and sympathy have no role to play where rule of law is required to enforced….courts have to enforce it (rule of law) without fear or favour, affection or ill will…thus, everyone within the framework of rule of law accept the system render due obedience to orders, and in the event of failure of compliance justice must descend down to punish ”, said Justice Nagarathna.

Besides the petition filed by Bilkis Bano challenging the remission granted to the convicts by the Gujarat government, several other PILs including one by CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali, independent journalist Revati Laul and former vice-chancellor of Lucknow University Roop Rekha Verma have challenged the relief. TMC MP Mahua Moitra has also filed a PIL against the remission granted to the convicts.

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