Bilkis Bano case convicts not ‘missing’, under police watch, official says
Hindustan TimesAll the 11 men convicted in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case of 2002, who are currently out on remission, are under ‘police watch’ and are not missing, PTI reported on Friday, quoting a senior Gujarat Police officer. On January 8, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan of the Supreme Court scrapped the remission granted to the 11 convicts in the case and directed them to surrender in two weeks. The bench said Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra, where the original trial of the convicts happened, to grant remission, and nullified a 2022 judgment by another bench of the top court, which had directed Gujarat to consider the remission applications of the 11 convicts, saying it was obtained by “playing fraud” on court. On Friday, Jain, however, refuted the claims and said that the convicts knew that they had to surrender and that they voluntarily came to the police station after the Supreme Court order on January 8, reported PTI.