Who were the persons convicted in the Bilkis Bano Case in Gujarat in 2002?
The following 11 persons were convicted for various offences (including rape and murder) in the Bilkis Bano Case:
- Jaswantbhai Chaturbhai Nai, (Accused No. 1)
Age in 2009 – 50 Years, Occupation: Agriculture,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Govindbhai Nai, (Accused No. 2)
Age – 44 Years, Occ: Service
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda,District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Shailesh Chimanlal Bhatt, (Accused No. 4)
Age in 2009 – 51 Years, Occupation: Social Worker,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Mr. Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah (Accused No. 5)
Age – 31 Years,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Bipinchand Kanaiyalal Joshi @ Lala Doctor, (Accused No. 6)
Age – 46 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Kesharbhai Khimabhai Vohania
Age – 43 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Pradip Ramanlal Modhiya, (Accused No. 3 – Expired during trial)
Age – 43 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Bakabhai Khimabhai Vohania
Age – 45 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Rajubhai Babulal Soni, (Accused No. 10)
Age – 48 Years, Occupation: Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt, (Accused No. 11)
Age – 47 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat. - Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana, (Accused No. 12)
Age – 45 Years, Occ. – Service,
Residing at Singwad, Taluka – Limkheda, District – Dahod, State of Gujarat.
Why were the convicts in the Bilkis Bano case not given Capital Punishment / Death Sentence?
In the Judgement (Reserved on March 17, 2017 and Pronounced in the Court on May 04, 2017) in the Appeal matter of Bombay High Court – Jaswantbhai Chaturbhai Nai And … vs The State Of Gujarat And Anr – CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1020 OF 2009 the points which were taken into consideration by the court of Mrs. Mrudula Bhatkar and Smt. V. K. Tahilramani JJ. were:
- there is no repetition of crime in the present case
- the accused before this Court are not history-sheeters or hard-core criminals
- we are convinced that all these accused persons in a mob on account of the Godhra incident were moving in search of muslims
- they were boiling with revenge
- the crime is uncommon and a large number of persons from the muslim community were murdered, however, the sentencing policy is also required to be balanced on the scale of proportionality
- though such crime is not justifiable and is shunned, we are of the view that it is not a case wherein the sentence imposed would be completely inadequate and would not meet the ends of justice
- though Bilkis Bano was present at the scene of the incident, she does not state that accused Nos. 1 and 2 murdered any of the persons in her group, nor does she say that accused Nos. 1 and 2 raped Halima or Shamim
- as far as Accused No. 4 is concerned, except for attributing role of murder of Saleha to him, no other role is attributed to him either of rape on anyone or murder of anyone
- the incident occurred in 2002, fifteen years have elapsed since then. These accused have been in custody all this while. Looking to this fact, after a gap of 15 years, we are not inclined to enhance the sentence
Which cases were referred to by the Court when refusing to give Capital Punishment / Death Sentence to the Bilkis Bano convicts?
List of Cases related to the Bilkis Bano rape and murder incident
- Bombay High Court – Jaswantbhai Chaturbhai Nai And … vs The State Of Gujarat And Anr – CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1020 OF 2009 WITH CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 1021 OF 2009