When 11 inmates serving life sentences for the gangrape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of her family members during the Gujarat riots in 2002 walked out to festive garlanding and sweet distribution last August in Gujarat, it was a similarly sad sequence of events.
Source: Jagran English
The similarity between the two situations is that the criminals seeking early parole had no remorse for their horrible actions. Both reprieve the smell of state cooperation in releasing the guilty and showing no regard for the seriousness of the crimes committed or the suffering of the victims.
The Nitish Kumar government flagrantly paved the path for Anand Mohan’s release by removing the state prison manual clause that had previously prevented his release, disregarding all notions of appropriateness in the process. The requirement that murderers of public servants on duty cannot leave jail early was recently removed from the manual.
Similar to the Bilkis case, the Gujarat Government and the Centre were clearly involved because they were unable to adequately respond to the Supreme Court’s inquiries regarding the reasons why the defendants’ remission was given. The SC had also criticised the government for giving these prisoners preferential treatment during their detention by granting them frequent release.
Source: NDTV
The two instances combined stop the wheels of justice from turning after decades of tenacity on the part of the underprivileged victims. Convicts with political influence appear to be more equal than the others, trampling all over morals and disobeying the law. The SC must step in to stop this downward spiral that undermines the hard-won justice.
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