Bilkis Bano case: 'Veil is off BJP's anti-women policies,' says Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Monday hailed the Supreme Court judgment quashing the Gujarat governments decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case saying it has removed the veil over the BJPs antiwomen policiesTaking to X the Congress leader said that justice has ultimately prevailed after the SC verdict in the caseJustice has ultimately prevailed With this order the veil over the antiwomen policies of the Bharatiya Janata Party has been removed After this public confidence in the justice system will be further strengthened she said in a post in Hindi on XShe further lauded Bilkis Bano and said Congratulations to Bilkis Bano for continuing her fight bravely The Congress party also took to X and attacked the BJP saying that the verdict shows the antiwomen act of the BJP government in GujaratThis decision of the Supreme Court in the Bilkis Bano case is historic This decision exposes the antiwomen act of the BJP government of Gujarat in releasing the rapists of Bilkis Bano This shows how disgusting the BJPs thinking is towards women the party said in HindiCongress leader Pawan Khera said the judgement of the apex court exposes the BJPs callous disregard for women It is a slap on the face of those who facilitated the illegal release of these criminals and also those who garlanded the convicts and fed sweets to them Pawan Khera said adding that India will not allow the administration of justice to be incumbent on the religion or the caste of the victim or the perpetrator of a crimeOutisde Bilkis Banos home in Devgadh Baria Gujarat there was an impromptu celebration with firecrackers being burst outside the residenceThe Supreme Court on Monday struck down the Gujarat governments order granting remission to 11 convicts who had gangraped Bilkis Bano and murdered her family members during the 2002 Godhra riotsA bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed the Gujarat governments remission order by which convicts were released prematurely It asked all 11 convicts to surrender before jail authorities within two weeksThe bench held that the Gujarat government was not competent to pass the remission orders but the Maharashtra government It said the appropriate government to decide the remission was the state within whose territorial limits the accused are sentenced not where the crime is committed or the accused are imprisonedThe top court held that the judgement of May 13 2022 by which another bench of the apex court had directed the Gujarat government to consider remission of convicts as per the 1992 policy was obtained by playing fraud on the court and by suppressing material facts The Gujarat government usurped the powers of the Maharashtra government acting in furtherance of the judgement dated May 13 2022 which in our opinion is a nullity said the benchThe convicts had not approached the court with clean hands said the bench adding that proceedings before this court were due to suppression of facts and that is why it is fraud played on this court The apex court questioned why the Gujarat government had not filed any application seeking a review of the May 13 2022 order as it was not the appropriate governmentThe judgement of the top court came on a petition filed by Bilkis Bano and others challenging the premature release of 11 convictsIn March 2002 during the postGodhra riots Bano was allegedly gangraped and left to die with 14 members of her family including her threeyearold daughter She was five months pregnant when rioters attacked her family in VadodaraThe Gujarat government had released the 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment on August 15 2022 All 11 lifeterm convicts in the case were released as per the remission policy prevalent in Gujarat at the time of their conviction in 2008It is pertinent to note that the remission was not granted under the circular governing the grant of remission to prisoners as part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav