Supreme Court Dismisses Review, Orders Death for Nirbhaya Case Convicts

The Supreme Court of India, today, confirmed the death sentence for the four convicted in 2012 Nirbhaya Gang Rape Case. In Supreme Court hearing, the convict questioned Nirbhaya’s declarations as when she was dying and argued that he deserve mercy because “pressure to implicate him had been overlooked” and the “real perpetrators” were never caught.

Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, was contesting the convict’s petition and said “The convict doesn’t deserve any lenience. God would feel ashamed of creating such a monster. There are certain crimes where ‘humanity cries’ and this case is one of them”.

Read: Nirbhaya’s Mother Wants Her Daughter’s Rapist Immediately 

Both public and media openly spoke about them wanting the convict, Akshay Singh to be implicated. His petition for mercy was argued by lawyer A P Singh in a three judge bench.

In the apex court, the lawyer implied that the dying declaration of Nirbhaya (alias given to protect the real identity of the victim) was “doubtful and cannot be relied upon”. In the hearing he also brought out that a book, recently published, by the former jailer of the Delhi’s Tihar Jail where all the convicts were lodged. The book raises questions about the suicide committed by one of the 6 convicts (Ram Singh) in the jail.

To this the court replied by saying “We can’t go by views of any author. We can’t go into all this now. This will set a dangerous trend if people start writing books after the trial is over and talk about such things. There will be no end if we start entertaining all these arguments now. He should have offered himself at the time of trial. What can be the purpose of writing all this now? How can we reply on it”.

Claiming as “new facts” Akshay Singh’s lawyer said that there was no CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) enquiry carried out in Nirbhaya case, referring to a Delhi case where a bus conductor was arrested in the case of murder of a Delhi Schoolboy but was later cleared of all charges by the CBI.  

Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde excused himself yesterday from the bench of judges that were supposed to hear the review petition said he there can be “prejudice” as one of his relative had represented Nirbhaya.

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The review petitions of the other three convicts, Vinay (24), Mukesh (30), and Pawan (23) had already been dismissed in the past. In total 6 people were accused for the heinous crime in which 4 were convicted, Ram Singh committed suicide in jail, whereas a then juvenile was released after spending 3 years in a reform home.

Nirbhaya was a paramedic student, and was gang raped and brutally assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi on the 16^th of December 2012. She was later dumped on road, critically injured with no clothes on her body. She later died in a hospital in Singapore on 29^th of December 2012.

The Supreme Court has handed a death sentenced all the 4 accused.