PTI
MUMBAI
The court however rejected the investigating agency CBI’s appeal seeking death penalty for three of the convicts.
A division bench of Justices VK Tahilramani and Mridula Bhatkar in its 430-page judgement said while the probe conducted by Gujarat police was “flawed with a dishonest investigation”, the evidence and statements given by Bilkis Bano were “completely trustworthy”.
Bilkis, who was gang-raped in March 2002 during the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat when she was pregnant, said in her reaction that her rights as a woman and a mother had been violated in the most brutal manner, and the verdict “vindicated truth” and confirmed her faith in the judiciary.
Seven of her family members had been killed in the riots.
“The appeal against conviction filed by the 11 convicts (one convict is dead) is dismissed. The conviction and sentence is upheld. The appeal filed by the prosecution against the acquittal of seven persons is allowed.
