Bilkis Bano case: Supreme Court questions convict for depositing fine when matter is under consideration
Supreme Court on Thursday questioned one of the convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case and the murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots for depositing the fine imposed on him when the hearing on the pleas challenging his remission was underway before it. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for convict Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana, told a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan that convicts have approached the trial court in Mumbai and have deposited the fine imposed upon them.
«Does non deposit of fine has a bearing on the remission? Did you apprehend that non deposit of fine would have a impact on the merits of the case. First you ask for permission and now without permission you have deposited,» the bench said.
Responding to the court's query, Luthra said non-deposition of fine does not affect the decision on remission but he had advised his clients to deposit the fine to «reduce the controversy».
«According to me, this has no legal consequence. But since the argument was raised...To reduce the controversy, we have deposited now,» he said.
The submission assumes significance as one of the PIL petitioners, challenging the remission granted to convicts, has argued that their premature release is illegal as they have not served their sentence in entirety.
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It was also argued that since the convicts did not pay the fine amounting to Rs 34,000, they had to undergo additional sentence which they have not.
Luthra informed the top court bench the convicts had filed an application seeking its permission to deposit the fine as there was an apprehension that the
