Supreme Court refuses to stay conviction of IPS officer in Bilkis case
A mob had attacked Bilkis' family at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots on March 3, and killed seven members.
New Delhi, May 30: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to stay the conviction of an IPS officer in the sensational 2002 Bilkis Bano case.
A vacation bench of Justices A K Sikri and Deepak Gupta said that "there is no urgency for hearing the matter as the convicted officer has already undergone the sentence."
The bench, however, listed the matter for hearing in the second week of July, observing the fine is of Rs 15,000 only.
IPS officer R S Bhagora, currently serving in Gujarat, has been convicted along with four other policemen by the Bombay High Court recently after the trial court had acquitted them.
The counsel appearing for Bhagora said that if the conviction is not stayed, then he will be terminated from the service as per service rules. He said the court should grant stay on the conviction.
The
Bombay
High
Court
had
on
May
4
reversed
the
trial
court
verdict
acquitting
Bhagora
and
others
and
had
convicted
11
people
one
convict
is
dead
in
the
Bilkis
Bano
gang
rape
case.
Along
with
five
policemen,
two
doctors
were
also
convicted
by
the
HC.
According to the prosecution, a mob had attacked Bilkis' family at Randhikpur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots on March 3, and killed seven members.
PTI