Supreme Court Dismisses Gujarat's Plea on Bilkis Bano Case Review

The Supreme Court dismissed a plea by the Gujarat government seeking to review a verdict quashing the remission of sentences for 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing seven of her family members during the 2002 riots. A bench found no merit or error in the review petitions.

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea by the Gujarat government seeking a review of the court's verdict which had quashed the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and murdering seven of her family members during the 2002 riots.

A bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan also rejected the application to list the review petition in open court.

'Having carefully reviewed the petitions, the challenged order, and the accompanying documents, we find no apparent error or merit in the review petitions to warrant reconsideration of the impugned order. The Review Petitions are accordingly dismissed,' the bench declared.

The plea by the Gujarat government argued that the Supreme Court's January 8 judgment, which held the state guilty of 'usurpation of power' and 'abuse of discretion' for complying with an order from another top court bench, contained an 'apparent error' based on three primary grounds.