These convicts had served more than 15 years in jail after which one of them approached the Supreme Court with a plea for his premature release.
Digital Desk: All the 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2002
post-Godhra Bilkis Bano gang rape case walked out of the Godhra sub-jail. This
comes after the Gujarat government allowed their release under its remission
policy.
The 11 accused - Radheshyam shah, Jaswant
Chaturbhai Nai, Keshubhai Vadaniya, Bakabhai Vadaniya, Rajibhai Soni, Rameshbhai
Chauhan, Shaileshbhai Bhatt, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Govindbhai Nai, Mitesh Bhatt,
Pradip Modhiya - walked out of jail on Monday.
A special CBI court in Mumbai on January 21,
2008, sentenced the eleven accused to life imprisonment on the charge of gang
rape and murder of seven members of Bilkis Bano's family. Their conviction was
later upheld by the Bombay High Court.
These convicts had served more than 15 years
in jail after which one of them approached the Supreme Court with a plea for
his premature release.
The apex court had directed the Gujarat
government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence following which
the government formed a committee, said Panchmahals Collector Sujal Mayatra,
who headed the panel.
"A committee formed a few months back
took a unanimous decision in favour of remission of all the 11 convicts in the
case. The recommendation was sent to the state government, and yesterday we
received the orders for their release," said Mayatra.
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