Reacting to the Supreme Court overturning the remission orders of those convicted in the brutal gang rape of Bilkis Bano during the 2002 Gujarat riots, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said on January 9 that the verdict was a light in dark times. In a statement, the CM said, “It is comforting to know that justice has finally prevailed in sister Bilkis Bano’s case. The Supreme Court’s verdict comes as a light in these dark times. The Supreme Court has shown that the BJP-led Gujarat state government hid the truth and colluded with the accused. It has shone a light on how justice was twisted to serve political interests.” 

Earlier this week, on January 8, the Supreme Court quashed the remission of sentence and release of the 11 men convcited for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven of her family members including her three-year-old daughter during the Gujarat Riots in 2002. The apex court said that the state of Gujarat had no jurisdiction to pass the remission orders. The court further pointed out that the petition based on which the SC, in May 2022, directed the Gujarat government to grant remission was “obtained by fraud”. The court also ruled that the Maharashtra state government was the appropriate authority to consider the remission applications.

Read: Bilkis Bano judgement shows how remorseless convicts scammed the court 

Stalin also added, “The BJP hides the truth, misleads even the court and makes efforts to release violent criminals. In Opposition-ruled states, the BJP brings efforts to release long-term convicts based on age and good behaviour to a dead end, showing their double standards.” The CM also quoted lines from the statement Bilkis released after the Supreme Court’s verdict. In the statement Bilkis had said, “It feels like a stone the size of a mountain has been lifted from my chest, and I can breathe again.” Stalin said that these lines “reveal the depth of the tribulations she suffered.” He further added, “This is a victory for her long quest for justice. It gives every woman the encouragement and fortitude to fight for justice for themselves. The battle she waged without fear will always be remembered in history. I offer my praise to her, to the senior advocates and the democratic forces that stood by her.”

Also read: Bilkis Bano case: SC quashes remission of 11 convicts, says Gujarat govt complicit 

‘I can breathe again’: Bilkis Bano thanks SC for annulling Gujarat govt decision

Supreme Court finds Gujarat govt acted in tandem with Bilkis Bano's rapist