Bilkis Bano Gang Rape: Gujarat High Court grants parole to convict for 10 days to attend nephew's marriage

Nearly a month after surrendering before the jail authorities in Godhra, one of the eleven convicts in the infamous Bilkis Bano gang rape case has been granted parole for ten days by the Gujarat High Court for attending his nephew's wedding [Chandana Rameshbhai Rupabhai vs State of Gujarat]..Single-judge Justice Divyesh Joshi granted the parole on Friday after considering the fact that the applicant Ramesh Chandana had sought the temporary release for attending the marriage of his nephew (sister's son)."Considering the grounds urged in the application, the applicant is ordered to be released on parole leave for a period of 10 days on him furnishing a bail bond of ₹5,000, to the satisfaction of the jail authority on usual terms and conditions," the Court said in its order..Advocate Khushbu P Vyas appeared for the applicant.Additional Public Prosecutor Ronak Raval represented the State..This is the second instance of a convict in this case securing parole.Earlier this month, another convict Pradipbhai Ramamlal Modiya was granted parole by the High Court for five days after his father-in-law expired..The eleven convicts - Radheshyam Shah, Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Kesar Vohania, Baka Vohania, Raju Soni, Ramesh Chandana, Shailesh Bhatt, Bipin Joshi, Pradip Modhiya, and Mitesh Bhatt - were convicted for raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family members during the Gujarat riots of 2002.On August 14, 2023, the eleven convicts were released from prison after they were granted remission (early release from prison) by the Gujarat governmentThe State government granted the remission to them following a May 2022 judgment of the Supreme Court in which the top court held that an application of remission should be considered in line with the policy of the State where the crime was committed (Gujarat, in this case) and not where the trial was held (the trial in the case was held in Maharashtra).Pursuant to that judgment, the Gujarat government applied its remission policy to release the convicts..The Gujarat government's decision was challenged by various petitioners including Bano before the top court.On January 8, Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the remission granted to the convicts by the Gujarat government. It concluded that the Gujarat government had no power to apply its remission policy to these eleven convicts.The bench headed by Justice Nagarathna also found that the convict who had approached the top court earlier for remission had suppressed material facts.Due to the suppression of the facts, the bench headed by Justice Nagarathna held the earlier ruling of May 2022 was non est and invalid in law, while directing all eleven convicts to surrender within two weeks..[Read Order]