Remission to 11 convicts arbitrary: Bilkis Bano to Supreme Court

The lawyer for Bilkis Bano on Tuesday argued the remission granted to 11 convicts was bad in law on account of arbitrariness, non-application of mind.

Advocate Shobha Gupta, appearing for Bano, argued that no reasoned recommendation was given by the jail authorities at the time of consideration of their remission application.

Gupta added the convicts did not even bother to pay the fines imposed on them. The development took place on Tuesday during the resumed hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging the decision of the Gujarat government granting remission to eleven convicts held guilty of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and murdering her family members during the 2002 Godhra riots.