Justice UD Salvi, who had sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano case spoke to mid-day.com and said that the felicitation of the accused was 'bad in taste'.
Bilkis Bano. File Pic
Justice Umesh Dattatray Salvi, who had sentenced 11 men to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape and her family members murder case during the Gujarat riots in 2002, said this offence was proved after accessing the facts and the state government was entitled to execute the punishment. He said, “The remission is also a part of their job and the state is authorised to do that but there is a process for it.”
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He added, "The state government is a machinery that is bound by the constitution and it has to consider the facts whether the justice was done or not in the case. The peculiar fact of this case is that it occurred as a part of a communal riot, therefore it has an impact on public perception also. It is not an individual act or a crime between two persons but it was between citizens, hence that public perception needs to be kept in mind. It should have been more considerate before granting a remission."
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Gujarat government and sought its response on a plea challenging the release of 11 men convicted for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano.
Justice Salvi, who had convicted the accused, spoke to mid-day.com and said that the felicitation of the accused was 'bad in taste'.
He said, "Suppose a remission has to be given, there is a reasoned order to be taken for it, reasons have to be given based on the evidences available. Factors like the good behaviour of the accused, the reformation of the accused and a sense of remorse have to be considered."
Also Read: Bilkis Bano case: SC agrees to examine plea against remission of convicts
Justice Salvi added, "I do not know what records were considered by the Gujarat government but the fact is very glaring that the felicitation was accepted and the acceptance of the felicitation is a mark that there was no remorse about it and I think it is not correct."
On the video that has also been shared on social media platforms where the accused in the case were being felicitated after their release from jail, Justice Salvi said, "It was not correct, it was in bad taste."
Justice Salvi also informed that the main reason for the case being transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra was that in those disturbed times, there was a public divide. The investigating agency, especially the CBI and Bilkis Bano herself were apprehensive that the witnesses were being threatened and there was a possibility of witnesses not coming forward. These were the main reasons the case was transferred from Gujarat to Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The 11 men were released from prison on August 15, the day India celebrated its 75th Independence, after the Gujarat government granted the remission of their sentence.
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