NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected the review petition filed by Bilkis Bano against the acquittal of the accused in the Gujarat riots case. Bilkis Bano demanded to review the Supreme Court's verdict in May, which had given permission to the Gujarat government to release the accused. The plea questioned the Gujarat government's release of 11 accused before the completion of their sentence.

Bilkis Bano was gang-raped during Gujarat riots. Eleven accused were sentenced in cases including the gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of seven members of the family.

In 2008, the Mumbai CBI court sentenced the accused in the case to life imprisonment. One of the accused had approached the Supreme Court seeking release after completing 15 years in jail. The Supreme Court has directed the Gujarat government to take a decision on the matter. Then the government had decided to release them.

During the riots following the Godhra incident in March 2002, Bilkis Bano, who was five months pregnant, was gang-raped and seven members of her family were killed. Six members of the family ran away and escaped. The accused were arrested by the police in 2004, two years after the controversial incident.