The Congress on Tuesday accused the Narendra Modi government of granting premature release to the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case for political motives and said "this stain on the legacy of this dispensation will never wash off".
This shocking revelation came to light when the Modi government, in its reply before the Supreme Court, revealed that it had given its "concurrence and approval" for the release of the individuals convicted of gangraping Bilkis Bano and killing her three-and-half-year-old child and various family members, said Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi.
"It is repugnant, reprehensible and revolting that an elected government chose to release these convicts in such a cavalier manner. The grant of premature release to the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case is a stain on this government's legacy that will never wash off," he told reporters.
Singhvi said when the release was ordered on August 15, the Modi government maintained a studied and deliberate silence on freeing the criminals, an action which has drawn legitimate criticism the world over and "exposed our system to widespread shame and ridicule".
"The fact that the Modi government actively suppressed this fact shows that even it was aware that the action was a condemnable one," he noted.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, "Denied by Special Court, doubted by CBI. Only the BJP govt at the Centre was certain to release the perpetrators of Bilkis Bano. Freedom of rapists and murderers is its priority and not the pleas of a woman expecting justice. Says a lot about the character of a govt, doesn't it?"
The Gujarat government has told the top court that the Ministry of Home Affairs approved the premature release of the 11 convicts vide letter dated July 11, 2022. It also disclosed the proposal was opposed by the Superintendent of Police, CBI, Special Crime Branch, Mumbai and the Special Civil Judge (CBI), City Civil and Sessions Court, Greater Bombay.
Singhvi alleged that despite the Modi government's "desperate and clumsy attempts to justify this embarrassing and demeaning action, it is clear that the sole underlying calculation for it was raw political".
"There are many compromises in politics. But the BJP has made the greatest compromise of all; a sacrifice of the last shred of conscience that separated them from those craven and venal elements who prize solely their own political survival over all else."
The case being sub-judice, public opinion and public conscience are no less important. The Modi government must answer in the court of the people, the Congress spokesperson said.
The Gujarat government in its reply to a PIL told the Supreme Court that the petitioner being a "third-party stranger", has no locus to challenge the remission order passed by the competent authority as per law under the "garb of PIL".
On reports that Union Parliamentary Affairs minister Prahlad Joshi defending the release of convicts contending it was as per law, Singhvi said, "It is for your own judgement if a minister campaigning in Gujarat elections says he finds nothing wrong in releasing 11 convicts for gang-rape and murder".
"This happened on August 15 also when the 11 convicts were released. But now you are expanding it to central cabinet ministers. I would condemn it in the strongest words.
"It is okay, you have a majority. (But) it doesn't mean that you can do what you like and this is a lawless world. It doesn't mean this country has no conscious, no rule of law or there is no compassion," he told reporters.
Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five-month pregnant when she was gang-raped while fleeing the riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed.
The 11 men convicted in the case walked out free from the Godhra sub-jail on August 15 after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission policy.
Singhvi alleged that the panel that had ordered the release of the convicts in the case had "cited dubious justifications -- such as they belonged to Brahmin and 'sanskari' families -- for their release and even opined, without any basis or justification, that the convicts may have been intentionally framed”.
What it had not said was that the MHA, had granted its approval for such premature release, Singhvi said and asked, "Was the panel acting under some compulsion that it reduced its process to an ostensible formality?"
"This proves beyond a shadow of doubt that the release was a political decision made with not just the knowledge but the concurrence of those in the highest echelons of power in the Modi government," he alleged.
"Why has the Modi government, despite the objections of senior officials, sought to grant preferential treatment to individuals convicted of so reprehensible, horrific and heinous a crime?" the Congress leader asked
Has it decided to pardon all convicted rapists and child murderers who have served a certain period? With what face will it now oppose demands for parole which cite this precedent, he posed.
Singhvi also asked if such treatment be granted to all individuals who are accused of heinous offences or was this a limited-time offer contingent on the upcoming elections.
In a series of tweets, Congress leader P Chidambaram said, "The villain in the remission of the sentences of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case was the Home Ministry. The convicts were released on August 15, 2022."
"On the morning of August 15, the prime minister had declared that no mercy will be shown to rapists. Did he not know on that day that the MHA had already given its approval to release the convicts? I cannot believe the prime minister and the home minister held different views on the subject."
Were they playing the game of 'good cop, bad cop'? If the prime minister believed in what he said on August 15, he should direct the MHA to submit to the SC that the release of the convicts will be reversed and cancelled. The prime minister's reputation will be put to test on November 29, Chidambaram said.
