Supreme Court in Bilkis Bano case, Gujarat government's order to pardon the convicts cancelled

In the case of premature release of the convicts of Bilkis Bano, the bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuiyan, while giving a big verdict, has canceled the order of Gujarat Government to pardon the convicts. The Supreme Court said that the Gujarat government is not the appropriate government to take decisions. Along with this, the Supreme Court's decision of 2022 has also been cancelled. In this, Gujarat government was described as a proper government and it was also said that it should consider the policy of 1992.

The Supreme Court said that the Gujarat government is not capable of releasing the culprits. Maharashtra government is a capable government in granting release. The Supreme Court said that the state where the criminal is tried and sentenced is competent to decide on the pardon petition of the convicts. The exemption order by Gujarat Government should be canceled due to lack of competence.

Justice Nagarathna said the May 13, 2022 judgment was also "per curiam" (bad in law) because it refused to follow binding precedents, including Constitution bench judgments, regarding the appropriate government for exemption. The Supreme Court rejected the May 2022 verdict, in which the Supreme Court had said Gujarat had the power to decide the exemptions and the 1992 exemption policy, which allows exemptions for murder, rape, gang rape, is applicable.

Justice Nagarathna said that the question is whether premature release can be given? We will go into the purely legal question, but the rights of the victim are also important. Women deserve respect. Can immunity be given in heinous crimes against women? These are the issues that arise. We proceed to consider the writ petitions in the light of the above philosophical premise, both on merits and maintainability.

Justice Nagarathna said that regarding the ability of the Gujarat government to pass exemption orders, it is clear that the appropriate government will have to take the permission of the court before passing exemption orders. This means that the place of incident or the place of imprisonment of the convict is not relevant for exemption. The definition of appropriate government is otherwise. The intention of the Government is that the State under which the accused was tried and sentenced was the proper Government. In this, the emphasis is on the place of trial and not where the crime took place.