Five out of the ten members who were part of the advisory board of the Gujarat remission policy that resulted in the release of 11 convicts guilty of rape and murder of 15 members of the Bilkis Bano family in the 2002 Gujarat riots belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
An official document procured by Scroll.in, displays the designation of authorities on the advisory board that decided the fate of 11 convicts.
In the document, opinions were asked for the premature release of the convicts. Apart from the Superintendent of Police, CBI, SCB, Mumbai and Special Judge (CBI), City Civil and Sessions Court, Bombay who were against the release, the rest were –
- Superintendent of Police, Dahod, Gujarat (Bilkis Bano resided in Dahod at the time of the riots).
- Collector and district magistrate, Dahod Gujarat.
- Jail Superintendent, Godhra, Sub-jail, Gujarat.
- Jail Advisory Committee.
- Home Department, Govt of Gujarat.
- Additional Director General of Police, Prisoners and Correctional Administration, Ahmedabad.
As per the document, the above list of authorities had no objection to the premature release of the 11 convicts.
On August 18, Siasat.com reported that two members of the advisory board were BJP MLAs – C K Raolji and Suman Chauhan. There was also Murli Mulchandani, who is one of the key witnesses for the prosecution in the Godhra train burning case. All three were part of the panel.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram had tweeted over the same on his official Twitter page, questioning the Gujarat state government if the decision came from a place of bias.
One of the panel members BJP MLA C K Raolji in an interview with Mojo Story displayed no remorse or inhibitions while stating that the decision to release the convicts was right as they belonged to the Brahmin community.
“They are Brahmins. They have good sanskaars (culture). We don’t know whether they (the 11 convicts) are guilty or not. Their conduct was good in jail. Besides, they are Brahmins. They are well-cultured men,” Raolji said in the interview.
