Blow to Bilkis Bano as Top Court Dismisses Her Review Plea Challenging Release of 11 Rape Convicts

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Saturday turned down a plea filed by Gujarat gangrape victim Bilkis Bano against the premature release of 11 convicts serving life sentence for gangraping her during the 2002 riots. 

The released convicts were given a rousing welcome in their hometown and the images of rapists being garlanded sparked massive national outrage.

The petitioner had requested the top court to review its May 2022 judgment which allowed the Gujarat government to consider and release the convicts. In her second petition, Bano challenged the very grounds of the release of the 11 men who raped the heavily pregnant woman and killed seven members of her family during the 2002 Godhra riots and the court order has no bearing on it. 

During post-Godhra riots in March 2002, a five-month pregnant Bano was allegedly gang-raped and left to die with 14 members of her family, including her three-year-old daughter in Vadodara.

As per norms, the review plea against the apex court judgment was heard in chamber by circulation by the judges who were part of the judgment under review and it came up for in-chamber consideration on December 13 before a bench of justices Ajay Rastogi and Vikram Nath. 

“I am directed to inform you that the review petition above mentioned filed in Supreme Court was dismissed by the court on December 13, 2022,” a communication issued by the apex court's assistant registrar stated. 

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The convicts sentenced to life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case were released on August 15, Independence Day, under the remission policy prevalent in the Gujarat state at the time of their conviction in 2008. The remission was granted on August 10, 2022 and the Central government also approved the premature release of life-term convicts.