NC president Farooq Abdullah welcomes SC order in Bilkis Bano case

Jammu: National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment quashing the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case and said the order will be implemented to provide justice to the victim.

Accusing the Gujarat government of abusing its power, the Supreme Court earlier in the day quashed the remission to the 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 communal riots in the state and ordered that they be sent back to jail within two weeks.

The Gujarat government's remission order was without application of mind, a top court bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said and asked whether "heinous crimes against women permit remission" whatever faith she may follow or creed she may belong to.

"The Supreme Court has taken a very good decision and I want to congratulate the apex court for it as the decision (of the Gujarat government) was wrong," Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a public meeting at Baran village in Bhalwal block on the outskirts of Jammu.

He also said people know who welcomed the convicts with sweets after their release from prison following the grant of remission.

"How does one feel seeing her rapists released.... The Gujarat government will implement the court order and provide justice to her," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, adding, "What had happened was wrong and we have to fight for it."