All 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case surrendered at Godhra Sub Jail in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district on Sunday evening as the Supreme Court’s deadline expired. Arriving from Singwad Randhikpur in two private vehicles late at night, the convicts surrendered before jail authorities, according to local Crime Branch inspector NL Desai.
On January 8, the Supreme Court annulled the remission granted by the Gujarat government to the convicts in the 2002 post-Godhra riots rape case, deeming it a “fraud act.” The court ruled that the state government lacked the authority to pass such an order. Justices BV Nagarthana and Ujjal Bhuyan directed the prematurely released convicts to return to jail within two weeks, highlighting the misuse of the court’s order to violate the rule of law.
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The convicts sought additional time to surrender, citing various reasons, but the court, on Friday, dismissed the petitions and reaffirmed the original deadline of January 21 for submitting to jail authorities. The convicts include Bakabhai Vohania, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandana, and Shailesh Bhatt.
Bilkis Bano, 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped during the 2002 communal riots following the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed. The Supreme Court’s intervention, revoking the remission and ordering the convicts to return to jail, underscores the gravity of the case and the court’s commitment to upholding justice in the aftermath of the tragic events that unfolded during the riots.
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