NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday in its order dismissed a review plea filed by the Gujarat government seeking to expunge certain remarks made against the State government for its conduct with regard to the premature release of the 11 convicts, the SC’s order copy, accessed by this Newspaper, revealed.The order of the top court was a big setback for the Gujarat government in the case.A review plea (RP) is the one, which is being filed by an aggrieved party in a case, seeking modification of the Court’s earlier order. A RP is being heard by the same judge of benches of the court, which earlier pronounced the order/ verdict in the case. The RP is being heard by judges in a chamber hearing without the presence of lawyers, parties or litigant in it.”Having carefully gone through the Review Petitions, the order under challenge and the papers annexed therewith, we are satisfied that there is no error apparent on the face of the record or any merit in the RP, warranting reconsideration of the order impugned. The Review Petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” a two-judge bench of the top court led by Justice B V Nagarathna and also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, said in the order.It also rejected the application for listing the review petition in an open court.The Apex Court in its landmark verdict on January 8, had quashed the Gujarat government’s August 15, 2022, decision to grant remission to 11 convicts, sentenced to life term for the gangrape of Bano and her family members during the 2002 Gujarat communal riots and directed all these 11 convicts to surrender within two months.The SC in its verdict held that the Gujarat government had usurped the powers of the Maharashtra government acting in furtherance of the judgment of May 13, 2022, in the case. It had held that Gujarat government was not competent to pass the remission orders but Maharashtra government. It had said the appropriate government to decide the remission was the State (in this case Maharashtra) within whose territorial limits the accused are sentenced and not where the crime is committed or the accused are imprisoned.Challenging this order, the Gujarat government had in February this year, knocked the doors of the SC by filing a RP against its January 8, 2024 order seeking to expunge these remarks made against the State for its conduct with regard to the premature release of the 11 convicts.The Gujarat state governement in its RP, filed before the top court aaid that thr remarks against the Gujarat govt in the judgment has caused great prejudice to the state.The Gujarat govenment has thereby sought a direction from the SC to delete the adverse adveemarks against the State.The State said that it cannot be held to have “usurped” the jurisdiction of the State of Maharashtra when it was acting as per a direction of the Supreme Court. “The remarks of the SC, is a nullity, and these are incorrect and thereby this court should expunge these remarks / observations,” Gujarat govt said.The Gujarat government objected to the apex court’s observation that State of Gujarat has acted in tandem and was complicit with convict.The Supreme Court on January 19 had in its order rejected the petitions filed by all the eleven Bilkis Bano case’s convicts seeking more time, beyond January 21, to surrender before the jail authorities, after noting that the pleas “lacked merits.”The same Special Bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Nagarathna and also comprising Justice Bhuyan had passed the order.The Gujarat government had granted remission of all these 11 convicts on August 15, 2022, 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 and not where the trial was held.The Gujarat government’s remission to all the 11 convicts of Bilkis and freed them created a huge public outrage and social activist, lawyers, and civil society terming it as “miscarriage of justice.”The name of 11 convicts who were set free by the Gujarat government are Jaswant Nai, Govindbhai Nai, Shailesh Bhatt, Radhyesham Shah, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohania, Pradeep Modhiya, Bakabhai Vohania, Rajubhai Soni, Mitesh Chamanlal Bhat and Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana.
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