Nirbhaya case: SC to pronounce verdict on convict's review plea at 1 pm on Wednesday

The newly constituted Supreme Court bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna will pronounce the order on the review plea of Akshay Singh, one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case at 1 pm on Wednesday. While AP Singh, the counsel for the accused was given half an hour to argue the matter, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta finished his argument in less than 10 minutes. There has been a speculation that the convicts in this case would be hanged soon after the Tihar jail recently requested the services of 2 hangmen.  

Read: Protests Break Out At Tihar Jail Over Delay In Nirbhaya Case Conviction

Counsel for convict repeats 'Kalyug' argument

AP Singh stated that media pressure, political pressure and public pressure was resulting in the false implication of the convicts citing the example of Ryan International School where a bus conductor was wrongly implicated. He claimed that new facts had emerged in the case. Reacting to this, Justice Bhushan observed that factual arguments could not be made at this stage. Maintaining that the convicts were “innocent” and “vulnerable”, Singh cast aspersions over the investigation. He also levelled an allegation that the sole eyewitness (Nirbhaya’s friend) gave his statement after receiving bribes and alleged that the death of one of the convicts in Tihar jail was suspicious, based on a book. On this, the apex court pointed out that relying on books written after the completion of the trial could not be considered as “new evidence”. Thereafter, the counsel for the accused contended that the government was pushing for hanging in this case to further its political agenda. Moreover, he repeated one of the ridiculous grounds in the review plea pertaining to the age being short in Kalyug. He added that death penalty was the ultimate denial of human rights. Singh said that Nirbhaya’s dying declaration had discrepancies and should not have been relied upon.  

Read: Nirbhaya Case: 'Country Demands Live Hanging Of Culprits,' Says Adv Pramila Nesargi

SG calls for the review plea to be dismissed

Moreover, Singh made an astonishing claim that all 6 persons in the bus could not have committed rape in 21 minutes. However, Justice Bhushan asked Singh to point out the error in the judgment. Meanwhile, Justice Banumathi noted that the SC had already considered these arguments and upheld the death sentence. Singh claimed that the prosecution forged medical examination reports. Contending that rapists were not born, but created by society, he reckoned that the real culprit was society and the lack of education. Arguing for the Delhi police, the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reiterated that all the arguments by Singh had been considered by all the courts. Mentioning that no new grounds had been raised in the review plea, he remarked that the court had held it to be rarest of the rare case. He called for the plea to be dismissed.  

Read: Nirbhaya Case: Protesters Outside Tihar Jail Seek Early Death Sentence For The Accused

The Nirbhaya case

A 23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons on December 16 in 2012 in Delhi. The victim was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend and succumbed to injuries a few days later. Out of the six convicts, one committed suicide in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015. The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed death sentence by a trial court in 2013, confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017. In July 2018, the SC rejected the review pleas filed by the three convicts for a re-examination of its 2017 judgment. 

Read: NCW Chief: I Urge Supreme Court To Execute Nirbhaya's Convicts Immediately