Editor’s Pick SC judge recuses herself from hearing Bilkis Bano’s plea
The HinduSupreme Court judge, Justice Bela M. Trivedi, has recused herself from hearing a writ petition filed by Bilkis Bano against a Gujarat Government decision to prematurely release 11 men sentenced to life imprisonment for gang-raping her and murdering her family members during the 2002 riots. Justice Trivedi hails from Gujarat and started her judicial career in the district judiciary in 1995 and had worked in different posts as Registrar — Vigilance in the High Court, Law Secretary in the Gujarat government, CBI court judge, Special Judge, etc. Ms. Bano has sought a review of a Supreme Court judgment of May 2022 that paved the way for the Gujarat government to release the 11 convicts. The affidavit by the State of Gujarat had revealed that while the Superintendent of Police, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and the Special Judge of Greater Bombay opposed the premature release, all the authorities in Gujarat and the Home Ministry recommended their release.