New Delhi, May 10, 2023 (PPI-OT): The Indian Supreme Court has deferred the hearing on petitions challenging the premature release of 11 Hindutva goons convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing of her family members to July 11. A Bench led by Justice KM Joseph deferred the hearing on the pretext of incomplete procedural formalities on account of non-serving of notices to some of the convicts. The Bench directed that the convicts – who could not be served notices – be served through publication of notices in Gujarati and English newspapers. On July 11, a new Bench would hear the matter as Justice Joseph is scheduled to retire on June 16. The police claimed that some of the convicts could not be served notices as their houses were found locked and their phones switched off.

On May 02, Justice Joseph had expressed anguish over convicts in Bilkis Bano case using procedural lacunae to delay adjudication of petitions against their premature release. “I think it should be more than clear to you what’s happening. The problem for me is that I am retiring on June 16. It’s obvious that they don’t want us to hear the matter…That’s more than obvious”, Justice Joseph had said.

Bilkis Bano, pregnant at the time of crime, was gang-raped and her three-year-old daughter and some other family members were killed by Hindutva goons on March 03, 2002 during the anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat when Narendra Modi was chief minister of the state. The 11 convicts were prematurely released in August, last year. The BJP-led Gujarat government cited the completion of 15 years in prison, age and behaviour during incarceration for the release of these convicts.

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