Horrendously wrong: 134 ex-bureaucrats write to CJI over Bilkis Bano convicts' release
India TodayMore than 130 former civil servants wrote an open letter to the Chief Justice of India against the recent release of 11 men who were convicted in the Bilkis Banor gangrape case. All 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano rape case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy. It added, “We write to you because we are deeply distressed by this decision of the government of Gujarat and because we believe that it is only the Supreme Court which has the prime jurisdiction, and hence the responsibility, to rectify this horrendously wrong decision.” The former civil servants wrote, "The case was a rare one because not only were the rapists and murderers punished, but so, too, were the policemen and doctors who tried to tamper with and erase the evidence to protect the accused and cover up the crime." The former bureaucrats also expressed surprise over the Supreme Court’s order directing case be examined as per Gujarat's 1992 remission policy. "In view of these glaring deviations from established law, departure from government policy and propriety, and the chilling impact that this release will have, not just on Bilkis Bano and her family and supporters, but also on the safety of all women in India, especially those who belong to minority and vulnerable communities, we urge you to rescind the order of remission passed by the Gujarat government and send the 11 persons convicted of gangrape and murder back to jail to serve out their life sentence,” they wrote.