The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the Gujarat government's request to review its earlier decision that revoked the remission granted to 11 men convicted of raping Bilkis Bano and killing seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The state government sought a review of the court's January 8 ruling, which criticized the Gujarat authorities for their actions. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that there was "no error apparent on the face of the record" that would justify reconsidering the previous verdict.

In its plea, the Gujarat government argued that the Supreme Court had mistakenly found the state guilty of "usurpation of power" and "abuse of discretion" in following an earlier order by another bench of the top court. The government highlighted three main reasons to support its claim of an error in the ruling.

Bilkis Bano, who was 21 years old and five months pregnant at the time, was gang-raped while fleeing the violence that erupted after the Godhra train burning. Her three-year-old daughter was among the seven family members killed in the attack.

In 2008, 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment for the crimes. However, on August 15, 2022, the Gujarat government released the convicts under its remission policy.

On January 8, 2024, the Supreme Court nullified the remission, ruling that only the Maharashtra government, where the trial took place, had the authority to grant such a release. The court ordered the convicts to surrender, a decision that the Gujarat government sought to challenge but was ultimately rejected.