Condemning the Gujarat government for its failure to compensate the victims of 2002 riots, the Supreme Court ordered the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to gang-rape survivor Bilkis Bano. It also told the state government to provide her a government job and accommodation as per rules.
The bench was acting on Bilkis Bano’s plea seeking a probe by CBI into the 2002 Godhra riots. Along with this plea, the apex court was also hearing Bano’s separate plea seeking exemplary compensation after declining Gujarat govt’s offer of Rs 5 lakh interim compensation.
The court on the earlier hearing had given the Gujarat govt two weeks time to complete disciplinary action against police personnel found guilty by the trial court and Bombay HC in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang-rape case.
Bano was gang-raped (she was pregnant at that time) during the 2002 Gujarat riots when she and her family was attacked by a mob.
Bano along with her two relatives survived the incident. She lost her sister, mother, minor daughter and other relatives during the carnage.
—India Legal Bureau