New Delhi: After Justice Bela M Trivedi recused herself from the case on Tuesday, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused an early bench to hear Bilkis Bano against the remission to 11 life-term convicts.
Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for her, sought another bench to hear the case, but Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, sitting on a bench with Justice PS Narasimha, said: “The writ will be listed. Please, do not keep mentioning the same again and again. It is very irritating.”
He will have to set up a fresh bench after the lady judge's recusal. The top court is proceeding on a winter vacation after two more days of hearing this week. The case may come up only in the new year.The petition is against remission to all 11 convicts on Aug 15 by the Gujarat Government after the Supreme Court asked it to do so in two months.
Bilkis Bano was 21, and five months pregnant, when she was gangraped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among seven family members killed at the time.
The probe was handed over to the CBI, and the trial was transferred to a Maharashtra court by the SC. A special CBI court in Mumbai had on Jan 21, 2008, sentenced the 11 to life imprisonment. Their conviction was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the SC. The 11 convicts walked out of Godhra jail on Aug 15 after Gujarat Government allowed their release under its remission policy.
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