New Delhi: The Supreme Court rejected the review petition filed by Bilkis Banu against the verdict that allowed the Gujarat government to decide on the commutation of the accused in the 2002 Gujarat gang rape case.
Bilkis Banu approached the Supreme Court questioning the release of 11 people who were serving life imprisonment in the case of gang-raping and killing their family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots. The Gujarat government released the accused on August 15, 2022. The argument was that there was approval from the Center and the release was based on the good behavior of the accused.
In May 2022, a bench consisting of Justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath ruled that the Gujarat government has the authority to consider the leniency request as the crime was committed in Gujarat.
Bilkis Bano was 21 and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped during the riots that broke out in Gujarat after the Godhra train burning incident. All seven members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter, were killed by the rapists.
On January 21, 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai sentenced 11 people to life imprisonment. Their punishment was later upheld by the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.
