Bilkis Bano gangrape: SC seeks Gujarat reply on posting of convicted cops

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Gujarat government to inform within four weeks whether cops convicted in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case during the 2002 communal riots were given posting in the police force.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Kanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud also asked the Gujarat government to inform whether any departmental action had been initiated or taken against the police officers whose conviction was upheld in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case.

The Bench passed this order when counsel for Bilkis Bano alleged that all the six police officers who were convicted in the case had been given fresh postings in the state and it was not clear whether any departmental action was initiated against them.

The counsel for Gujarat, however, informed the court that the police officers who had been given postings had served out the sentence imposed on them in this case. The counsel said the state would file a proper reply in this regard.

The counsel for Bilkis brought to the notice of the court that meagre compensation was paid to her. The court gave her liberty to file a fresh appeal in the Gujarat high court for higher compensation. The Bombay high court had on May 4 upheld the conviction and life imprisonment of 12 people in the gangrape case, while setting aside the acquittal of seven people.