Delhi: The Supreme Court today put the the review plea of two death row convicts in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case on reserve. The two have challenged the death penalty awarded to them in the case. The court has further granted three-weeks time to fourth convict Akshay Kumarto file a review petition.
On May 5 last year, the top court had upheld the death penalty to the four convicts – Mukesh (29), Pawan (22), Vinay Sharma (23) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31), saying the “brutal, barbaric and diabolic nature” of the crime could create a “tsunami of shock” to destroy a civilised society. Of the two other accused, Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail while the juvenile was sent to a reformation home for three years and has been out since then.
Challenging the Supreme Court’s verdict, Mukesh had last year filed a review petition alleging that the court had not properly examined crucial evidence in the case. Mukesh’s lawyer M L Sharma claimed his client was being framed in the case and also raised other issues, including the dying declaration of the victim. The counsel for the remaining three convicts also sought re-examination of the judgment.
Delhi Police, however, opposed the review plea and told a bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan that submissions advanced by the counsel appearing for Mukesh does not make out a case for review of the apex court’s judgement.
On January 22, the court had asked advocate A P Singh, who is representing Akshay, Pawan and Vinay, as to why a review petition had not been filed on behalf of Akshay. The lawyer had submitted that due to some family crisis at Akshay’s home, he could not file the same for him.
The 23-year-old paramedic student was gangraped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by a gang of six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out naked. The victim succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.