New Delhi, Aug 18 : Former Home Minister P.Chidambaram has questioned the reduction of sentence in the Bilkis Bano case.He also said that only when the CBI was the prosecuting agency, did the Gujarat government consult with the Union government. Chidambaram in tweets that on Thursday “The accepted legal position of law is that in cases where the prosecutor’s agency is the CBI the state government has the obligation to consult with the central government prior to making a decision on a remission of sentence.”
He stated that the most obvious questions that were raised were “did the Government of Gujarat consult the Central government? What was the opinion of the central government?”
“It is inconceivable that the Gujarat government would have swayed against the views of the central government.Let the PM and HM answer these questions.
They can’t be silent from the world of silence.Under the Gujarat model Nari shakti is defeated by vinash Shakti,” he added.
The 11 convicts who were sentenced to life in prison in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape, as well as the murder of seven members of her family, were released on Monday out of Godhra sub-jail following the Gujarat government granted the release of the prisoners under its policy of remission.
A special CBI court in Mumbai was sentenced to the 11 accused on January 21st in 2008.
The Bombay High Court later upheld their conviction.
As per reports, the inmates spent longer than 15 years in prison and one of them sought out the Supreme Court with a plea for early release, which was granted.
The Supreme Court had ordered the Gujarat government to study the issue of the possibility of remission.
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