• We are people who call women ‘Narayani’
• You must have seen the power of ‘Nari Shakti’ in courts who are working in the field of Law.
• Even in the police force, our ‘Nari Shakti’ is taking the responsibility of protecting the people.
• I can see the manifold contribution of ‘Nari Shakti’, my mothers, sisters and daughters, in the next 25 years compared to the contribution in the last 75 years of India’s journey.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, August 15, 2022, Red Fort (Verbatim excerpts from the website managed by the PMO)

New Delhi: Thirty-five days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated “Nari Shakti” from the Red Fort to mark the 75 years of Independence, his government had given its concurrence to the premature release of the 11 rapists and murderers in the Bilkis Bano case, documents submitted to the Supreme Court have confirmed.

Moreover, the BJP-run Gujarat government overruled the opinions of the CBI and a judge against remission and granted the relief to the perpetrators of one of the most gruesome episodes of the Gujarat riots, which occurred when Modi was chief minister.

The disclosures have been made in an affidavit filed by the Gujarat government on Monday night.

Until now, neither Modi nor his right-hand man and Union home minister Amit Shah, whose department gave the concurrence to the release of the convicts within 13 days of the Gujarat government seeking approval, has made any statement on the Centre’s role.

The following are the key revelations by the 477-page affidavit filed by the Gujarat government in the top court:

• The state government had sought the opinion of seven entities on the premature release of the 11 convicts.
• Two — the CBI and the special CBI judge — opposed the premature release. The CBI in Mumbai had investigated the case. The trial took place in the city civil and sessions court of the CBI judge in Mumbai after the case was transferred out of Gujarat.
• Five authorities — all associated with BJP-run administrations — gave their concurrence to the release. The five are the Union home ministry, the Gujarat home department, the superintendent of police of Dahod (a district in Gujarat), the Godhra sub-jail superintendent and the jail advisory committee.
• The convicts were released on the basis of the remission policy of 1992 and not as part of the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the affidavit said.
• The state government considered all the opinions and decided to release the 11 prisoners since they had completed 14 years and above in prisons and their behaviour was found to be good, the affidavit said.

The Gujarat government filed the affidavit in response to petitions moved by outraged citizens, including veteran CPM leader Subhashini Ali and Trinamul MP Mahua Moitra. The petitioners, whose initiative has helped bring out the truth in the face of stony silence from the Modi government, have been assailed in the affidavit as “interlopers”.

Then aged 21, Bilkis Bano was five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the riots of 2002. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed. The 11 convicts, sentenced to life, walked out free from a Godhra jail on August 15 this year.

The dates mentioned in the affidavit suggest the effort to get the prisoners released was accelerated in the middle of this year.

March 11, 2021: The CBI superintendent of police in Mumbai gives the opinion that the prisoners should not be released prematurely.

March 22, 2021: The special judge, CBI, also gives the opinion that the prisoners should not be released.

June 28, 2022: The Gujarat government submits to the Union home ministry the opinions of the authorities concerned and seeks “approval/suitable orders of the Government of India”.

July 11, 2022: “The Government of India conveyed the concurrence/approval of the central government under Section 435 of the CrPC for premature release of the 11 prisoners,” the affidavit said. Under Section 435 of the CrPC, the sanction of the Union government must be obtained in cases investigated by a central agency (the CBI in this instance).

August 10, 2022: Remission is granted.

August 15, 2022: The 11 convicts are released, and felicitated later.

The 11 convicts are Kesharbhai Khimabhai Vahoniya, Shaileshbhai Chimanlal Bhatt, Pradip Ramanlal Modhiya, Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt, Bipinchandra Kanaiyalal Joshi, Rajubhai Babulal Soni, Bakabhai Khembhai Vahoniya, Gondhbhai Akhanbhai Nai, Jashvant Bhai Chaturbhai Nai, Rameshbhai Rupabhai Chandana and Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah alias Lala Vaikil.

On Tuesday, the bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C.T. Ravi Kumar adjourned the matter to November 29 to enable the petitioners to file their counter-affidavits.