Gujarat HC seeks state’s compliance with prisoner remission policies

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Monday asked the state govt to place before it copies of its policies on remission and premature release of prisoners, along with a report on compliance with these policies.The HC took suo motu cognisance of the issue following directions issued by the Supreme Court to all high courts across the country to monitor and supervise the implementation of remission policies. In its order, the bench of Justice I J Vora and Justice R T Vachhani stated, "This bench has been constituted to monitor and supervise the implementation of the remission and the premature release policies of the respective states by the Hon'ble Supreme Court."During the hearing, govt pleader G H Virk submitted that the name of the state of Gujarat did not figure in the apex court's order. He further submitted that, as far as Gujarat was concerned, there was full compliance with the directives of the Supreme Court issued from time to time in its various judgments.Upon hearing the state govt's submissions, the bench stated, "In such circumstances, in order to examine the compliance as well as the current policies, we request the state counsel to place on record the copies of the current policies on the aspect of remission and a copy of the compliance report served to the amicus curiae as referred in the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court."The HC sought the details by Feb 12.The issue of remission and premature release of prisoners in Gujarat came into focus when the state govt released 11 convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano rape case on Aug 15, 2022. The convicts were also found guilty of the murder of 14 persons during the post-Godhra violence.On Jan 8, 2025, following various PILs and a petition filed by Bilkis Bano objecting to the release of the convicts, the apex court quashed the state govt's order granting them remission, stating that it was "wholly without jurisdiction and non est". The Supreme Court also ordered the convicts to surrender.