The Supreme Court has been approached by Govindhbhai Nai,who is one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case, for seeking four weeks time to surrender before the concerned jail authorities.
On January 8,the Apex Court ordered Nai and ten other convicts to surrender before the jail authorities within two weeks of time.
In his apeal Nai has asked for extension in surrendering before the court stating his ill health. The convict has also requested the court about his responsibilities at domestic end for which he needs some time.
As per the plea, Nai’s father is bedridden and dependent on him.
He has further submitted that he had to undergo an angiography recently and is yet to undergo another operation for the treatment ‘Hemorrhoids’.
The eleven convicts (respondents) before the top court had been convicted for raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family members during the Gujarat riots of 2002.
The Gujarat government granted the remission of their sentence following a May 2022 judgment 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 Gujarat government’s decision was challenged by various petitioners including Bano before the top court.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan on January 8 quashed the remission granted to them by the Gujarat government. It concluded that the Gujarat government had no power to apply its remission policy to these eleven convicts.
It, therefore, directed all eleven to surrender within two weeks.