After the death of his father-in-law, Pradip Modhiya, one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case, was granted five-day parole by the Gujarat High Court on January 21, little over two weeks after the court ordered their surrender at the Godhra sub-jail.
Modiya has petitioned the High Court for a 30-day parole period.
According to the prosecution, Modiya reported to the relevant jail authorities on time after being granted parole, and his behavior while confined was also noted to be excellent.
After reviewing the death certificate and the jail officer’s consideration, Justice MR Mengdey gave Modiya a five-day parole.
Justice Mengdey stated, “In that view of the matter, the petition is partly allowed. The petitioner is ordered to be enlarged on parole leave for a period of 5 (Five) days from the date of his actual release on usual terms and conditions, including furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 5,000/- to the satisfaction of the jail authority. The petitioner shall surrender before the jail authority on or before the expiry of the parole leave.”
Notably, in August 2022, the Gujarati government announced the early release of 11 prisoners, among them Modhiya, on the grounds of their “good conduct” while incarcerated. Radheshyam Shah, Jaswant Nai, Govind Nai, Kesar Vohania, Baka Vohania, Raju Soni, Ramesh Chandana, Shailesh Bhatt, Bipin Joshi, Mitesh Bhatt, and Pradip Modhiya are among the eleven people who had turned themselves in.
On January 8, however, the Supreme Court reversed this decision, denouncing the State as “complicit” and misusing its authority. The top court ordered the convicts who were released in 2022, to return to prison within two weeks. They had surrendered the Godhra prison officials on January 21.