In 2022, Gujarat government ordered early release of gang rape convicts despite their life terms For many Indian women, the top court’s ruling on Monday comes as a ‘huge relief’ New Delhi: India’s apex court quashed on Monday the remission given to 11 Hindu men who were jailed for raping a Muslim mother and killing seven members of her family during religious riots in 2002. The anti-Muslim riots in the western state of Gujarat are widely viewed as some of the worst instances of religious unrest in the predominantly Hindu country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the state’s chief minister during the violence that killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. The 11 men were sentenced to life terms in 2008 after being convicted of rape and murder in the case of Bilkis Bano, who was 19 and pregnant with her second child when she was brutally gang raped. The assailants had also killed her seven family members, including her three-year-old daughter. But in 2022, the Gujarat government ordered an early release after they served 14 years in jail, sparking widespread condemnation across the country and several petitions to the Supreme Court. Reading from the judgment on Monday, the two-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice B.V. Nagarathna said that the state of Gujarat was not competent to pass the remission order in the case, as the men were tried and convicted in a court in the state of Maharashtra. “The exercise of power by the state of Gujarat is an instance of usurpation of power and abuse of power. This is a classic case where the order of this court was used to violate the rule of law by granting remission. On that ground also, the remission orders deserve to be quashed,” Nagarthna said. “A woman deserves respect howsoever high or low she may otherwise be considered in society or to whatever faith she may follow or whatever creed she may belong to. Can heinous crimes against women permit remission? These are the issues which arise,” she said. “Justice can be done only by sending them back to prison.” Bano has been living in hiding since her attackers were released as she feared for her safety, according to reports from the Indian media. Her legal representative said that the top court’s ruling has restored Indians’ faith in the justice system. “It is a very good judgment which has upheld the rule of law and the faith of the people of this country, particularly the women, in the legal system, the courts, and that there is an assurance for justice,” Vrinda Grover, one of the lawyers representing Bano, told reporters after the verdict. For many women in the country, the ruling comes as a relief. “It’s a huge relief for the women of the country,” Annie Raja, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women, told Arab News. Raja, whose organization filed a petition in Bilkis Bano’s case, highlighted how the Gujarat government had violated the law by ordering the remission in 2022. “The court said the responsibility lies with the state of Maharashtra, where the trial took place, to take a decision on remission,” Raja said. “Prime Minister Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah were silent on the violation of the law and their silence was considered as support to the violation … The court’s order gives lots of hope and relief for us.” Poonam Kaushik, a women’s rights activist based in New Delhi, said that the ruling would establish a precedent in India. “By upholding rule of law and its supremacy, the judgment would set a precedent for all,” she said. Maimoona Mollah, from the All India Democratic Women’s Association, is hoping that unlawful remission in Bano’s case will be the last. “We hope this kind of thing is not repeated,” Mollah told Arab News. “We hope that the criminals will go back to jail, and Bilkis Bano has some relief.”