BILKIS BANO CASE: GUJ TO APPRISE SC ON ACTION AGAINST OFFICIALS
The Supreme Court on Monday said the policemen and doctors found guilty of tampering with evidence in the 2002 Bilkis Bano gang rape should not be in service and gave the Gujarat government four weeks to clarify its stand.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud also allowed the gangrape survivor to file a fresh appeal seeking enhancement of the compensation earlier granted to her in the gangrape case that had taken place during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The instructions were issued after Bano’s lawyer told the court that the policemen who botched up the probe were back on duty even as she asked for a higher compensation.
The court asked the Gujarat government if a disciplinary inquiry had been initiated against the seven persons — five policemen and two doctors — found guilty of failing to performing their duty and tampering with evidence by the Bombay high court.
The government said the men had served their sentence but the court questioned its move to reinstate the police officers.
The court also asked Bano to file a separate plea for higher compensation in a lower court.
The Bombay high court had fined each of the convicts ₹55,000 and directed that the money be paid to Bano by way of compensation.
Bano and 16 members of her family were attacked by a mob on March 3, 2002 at Randhikpur village in Gujarat’s Dahod district as communal violence swept the state. The high court had on May 4, 2017 upheld life sentences to 11 men for raping Bano and convicted seven people for tampering evidence.
NEW DELHI: THE INSTRUCTIONS WERE ISSUED AFTER BANO’S LAWYER TOLD THE COURT THAT THE POLICEMEN WHO BOTCHED UP THE PROBE WERE BACK ON DUTY