India, Jan. 7 -- The Supreme Court on Monday will deliver judgment on petitions challenging the Gujarat government's decision to prematurely release 11 convicts serving life in prison for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and various other heinous crimes committed during the 2002 riots.

A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan will pronounce its decision after it had reserved orders on petitions filed by Bano and others on October 12. The court had directed the Centre and state government to submit the original files containing the decision-making process that freed the convicts in August 2022.

Bano was 21 and five months pregnant when she was gang raped as she tried to flee with her family to safety during the 2002 Gujarat riots. ...