It’s wrong, and unfair to reward the accused in Criminal cases: Fadnavis

Mumbai 23 August : Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday said that it was "wrong" and "unjustified" to give a deserved kudos to inmates who were convicted of crimes such as in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case of Gujarat.

The mention was made in a discussion about the recent gang-raped of a woman aged 35 for three days in Bhandara district.Fadnavis claimed it was not necessary to bring up the Bilkis Bano issue in the legislative body.

The 11 convicts serving life sentences in the two decades-old cases were released on August 15 after 14 years in prison following an apex courts order.They were found guilty in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape trial and the murder of seven family members of her in 2002 during the Gujarat riots.

The release of the prisoners from Godhra Jail came as part of the Bharatiya Janata party-ruled Gujarat governments decision under the remission policies of 1992 which allowed for the early release of prisoners.The state government was criticized over the release and further outrage when the convicts were received with garlands after their release from prison.

In January 2008 the special CBI court in Mumbai found all 11 suspects guilty of murder and gangrape, and sentenced them to life in prison.