NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentences awarded to three of the four convicts who had sought a review of its verdict in the 2012 infamous Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi hailed the judgement but added that justice is getting delayed. "Our struggle does not end here. Justice is getting delayed. It's affecting other daughters of the society. I request judiciary to tighten their judicial system, serve justice to Nirbhaya by hanging them as soon as possible and help other girls and women," Asha Devi said.
However, she added that today's decision reaffirms the trust in the judiciary. "They were not juveniles. It is unfortunate that they committed such crime. This decision reaffirms our trust in the court that we will definitely get justice," she said.
Nirbhaya's father Badrinath Singh also sought an early execution of the death sentence. "We knew that review petition will be dismissed. But what next? So much time has gone by and threat to women have gone up in this time span. I believe that the sooner they're hanged, the better it is," Singh said.
Nirbhaya family's lawyer Rohan Mahajan called it a victorious moment. "It is a victorious moment. Faith in the judiciary has been reinstated. We are satisfied today. The only request to the Central government is to expedite whatever process is to follow now," Mahajan said.
The Supreme Court today dismissed pleas filed by three out of the four convicts seeking review of its verdict upholding the death penalty awarded to them in the sensational December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
The SC bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan rejected the review pleas filed by Mukesh (29), Pawan Gupta (22) and Vinay Sharma (23), saying no grounds have been made out by them for review of the verdict.
The apex court said the death row convicts failed to point out "error apparent on the face of record" in the judgement. It also added that these three convicts were heard elaborately during the stage of their appeal against the Delhi High Court's judgement and no case has been made out by them for review of the apex court's verdict upholding the death penalty.
The fourth death row convict, Akshay Kumar Singh (31), had not filed a review petition against the apex court's May 5, 2017 judgement. The apex court had in 2017, upheld the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court and the trial court.
Nirbhaya was gangraped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a running bus in South Delhi by six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road. She succumbed to injuries on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail in Delhi.
A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.
