Bilkis Bano gang rape: Convict moves Supreme Court claiming judgment cancelling remission violated judicial propriety

Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, has moved a plea before the Supreme Court contending that the January 8 judgment leading to the cancellation of his remission (early release from prison) and the re-imprisonment of all eleven convicts was judicially improper. .As per the plea, the January 8 judgment delivered by Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan was "not only judicial impropriety but creates uncertainty and chaos as to which precedence of law has to be applied in future.".Radheshyam has argued that it was incorrect in law for the two-judge bench led by Justice Nagarathna to overrule a judgment rendered by another two judge-bench of the Supreme Court, namely Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath..Notably, the May 2022 judgment rendered by the Justice Rastogi-led bench had held that the State of Gujarat (and not the Maharashtra government) was the appropriate government to decide on remission applications filed by the rape convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. The Gujarat government eventually decided to allow the remission applications, which decision was then challenged before the Supreme Court. This challenge was heard by the bench led by Justice Nagarathna, which found that the May 2022 judgment was secured by Radheshyam after misleading the Court and suppressing key facts. For this, Radheshyam as well as the Gujarat government, were also pulled up by the Justice Nagarathna-led bench, which proceeded to cancel the Gujarat government's decision to allow convicts' early release from jail. While doing so, the Justice Nagarathna-led bench declared that the May 2022 was obtained by fraud played on the court and hence, was a nullity and non est in law. .Gujarat government was complicit and acted in tandem with convicts: Supreme Court on early release of Bilkis Bano rape convicts.Radheshyam has now contended that since the two-judge bench led by Justice Nagarathna disagreed with another two-judge bench (led by Justice Rastogi), the matter ought to have been referred to a larger bench. To not do so would violate the Constitution bench judgment in the Rupa Ashok Hurra case, his plea said. The Rupa Ashok Hurra judgment squarely deals with such issues of two benches of equal strength deciding on the same case and delivering conflicting orders, the plea added. The plea filed through advocate Rishi Malhotra, therefore, has urged the top court to reconsider the convict's plea for premature release.Radheshyam has also sought bail until the Supreme Court can clarify which of the two-judge bench judgments would prevail..Radheshyam Shah is among eleven convicts 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 governmentHowever, they were sent back to prison after the Supreme Court set aside the remission orders on January 8 this year, and also refused to extend the time within which they should surrender before the jail authorities. More recently, two convicts Pradipbhai Ramamlal Modiya and Rameshbhai Chandana were granted parole (temporary leave from jail) by the Gujarat High Court for five days and ten days respectively. Modiya was granted parole in view of the death of his father-in-law while Chandana was allowed the same to attend the marriage of his nephew. Later, two more convicts - Shailesh Bhatt and Mitesh Bhatt - also filed applications before the High Court seeking parole. They urged the High Court to grant parole leave on the ground of Nav Chandi Pooja and Vastu Shanti Pooja. However, in an order passed on February 29, the High Court refused to entertain their plea for parole following which they withdrew their petitions.