Kalvakuntla Kavitha wants SC to step in

HYDERABAD: Seeking the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter of release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case, TRS MLC and former Nizamabad MP Kalvakuntla Kavitha on Friday urged Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to restore the nation's faith in the judiciary by ensuring that the release order was withdrawn. In a letter to the CJI, Kavitha said the convicts were given ineligible remission. She appealed to Justice Ramana to intervene in the matter so that the decision to release the 11 convicts was rescinded immediately.

"Crimes such as rape shake the very core of our social conscience and seeing the convicted rapists walk out freely on a day such as our Independence Day sends shivers down the spine of every woman and every citizen who place their faith in the laws of the land and the justice system," she said.

She said the case was investigated by the CBI and added there was no clarity if the state government had commuted the sentence and ordered the release of the 11 conv-icts after consulting the matter with the Centre.

Citing the Suprme Court order, she said that remission powers of an appropriate government should not be exercised arbitrarily and that they should be exercised only with inherent procedural and substantive checks. "It is not clear whether procedural and substantive checks were taken into account while releasing the 11 convicts," she said.