Supreme Court rejects Bilkis’ plea for Maharashtra to decide remission

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition by 2002 post-Godhra riot-connected gang rape survivor Bilkis Yakub Rasool who had sought review of the SC’s May 13 judgment which permitted the Gujarat government to consider the remission pleas of 11 gang rape and murder convicts sentenced to life, leading to their release from jail.
Bilkis had, through counsel Shobha Gupta, requested for an open-court hearing of her review petition seeking alteration of the May 13 judgment to the effect that Maharashtra would be the “appropriate state” to decide afresh the remission pleas. Her writ petition challenging Gujarat’s decision to remit the remaining sentences of the lifers remains pending.