10 out of 11 accused of Bilkis Bano sought time to surrender, hearing in Supreme Court today

The convicts have demanded extension of the surrender period in the Supreme Court. The court will hear today. The apex court had raised questions on the release of 11 prematurely acquitted Bilkis Bano convicts and had quashed it. All 11 convicts are residents of Gujarat.

The Supreme Court will hear today the petition of 10 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case. In fact, the convicts have demanded extension of the surrender period in the apex court. Justice Nagarathna's bench will hear this case. Those who filed the application include 10 convicts including Govindbhai Nai, Ramesh Rupabhai Chandana and Mitesh Chimanlal Bhat. The court had given its verdict on January 8 and asked all the culprits to surrender within two weeks.

The apex court had raised questions on the release of 11 prematurely acquitted Bilkis Bano convicts and had quashed it. The court had directed the culprits to surrender in jail within two weeks. Senior advocate V Chitambaresh, appearing for convict Ramesh Rupa Bhai Chandana, sought immediate hearing on the application as the deadline for surrender was ending on Sunday.

The lawyers of the remaining eight convicts told the court that they would also file similar applications, after which the court allowed all the applications to be listed together. Till Thursday evening, 10 out of 11 convicts in this case approached the apex court. All 10 convicts have sought more time to surrender, citing reasons such as fulfilling family responsibilities, taking care of elderly parents, harvesting of winter crops and health conditions.

Convicts claim they did not commit any crime after release

Govindbhai Nai has asked for additional time of four weeks, Chandana, Mitesh Chimanlal Bhatt, Pradeep Ramanlal Modhiya, Bipinchand Kaniyalal Joshi, Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah, Raju Bhai Babulal Soni, Jaswant Bhai Chaturbhai Nai, Keshar Bhai Khima Bhai Vahnia and Shailesh Bhai Chimanlal Bhatt. Six weeks time has been sought. While canceling the release of the convicts, the Supreme Court had said that Gujarat usurped the power of Maharashtra, where the original trial of the convicts was held. All the 11 convicts are residents of Gujarat and said that after getting remission of sentence on August 15, 2022, they lived with their families and have not committed any crime during the period of release.