'SC ruling path-breaking': who sentenced convicts for life Judge

The Supreme Court ruling cancelling the remission granted to the convicts in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case by the Gujarat government is "path-breaking and encouraging", said the Mumbai trial court judge, who had sentenced them to life imprisonment, on Monday. Justice U D Salvi, now retired, had in 2008 convicted 11 men in the gang rapecum-murder case, in Gujarat, whose trial was held in Mumbai.

The Il convicts sentenced to life imprisonment by justice Salvi were granted remission by the Gujarat government, leading to their premature release from a jail in the adjoining state on August 15, 2022. This decision was challenged in the apex court by the survivor, Bilkis Bano, and others.

On Monday, the top court quashed the Gujarat government's remission order and directed the convicts to surrender in two weeks. "This is a path-breaking and encouraging judgment. It will provide a path of guidance in other cases," justice Salvi told PTI.