New Delhi: The Supreme Court refused Thursday to entertain the plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, challenging the Delhi High Court order which rejected his claim that he was not in the city when at the time of crime on December 16, 2012.
In a separate development the Supreme Court also dismissed death-row convict Akshay Kumar’s plea challenging the rejection of his second mercy petition by the President. A bench of Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna said no ground was made out in Akshay’s plea for judicial review of the decision rejecting mercy petition.
The same bench while hearing Mukesh’s plea said the convict has exhausted all his remedies and no fresh evidence can be entertained at this level. The bench said it does not find any merit in the plea and hence it cannot be entertained.
“The petitioner has raised points on the merits of the trial that there was no consideration of the evidence about medical status of accused. Has raised doubts about arrest of the accused from Karoli,” the bench said in its order.
It said the convict was given every opportunity to raise his points and he was duly heard. “After the petitioner was afforded all opportunities and appeal process, the criminal appeal filed before this court was heard at length. All points raised by the accused were considered and appeal dismissed. Review petition, considered and dismissed. Therefore, instant petition is dismissed,” the bench said.
The petition sought recording of calls, documents and reports by an investigating agency like CBI and to declare that the convict has legal and constitutional rights to approach any court at any time even in the last minute of hanging. It also sought a declaration that concealment of documents by the state in trial is a serious fraud which vitiates a trial being unfair.
Mukesh in his petition said that even after his execution, facts in the case must be examined judicially so in the future no ‘innocent be victim of failure of justice under media pressure’.
“Petitioner is not looking for any adjournment of execution of death warrant and seeking justice that even after his death truth will survive and justice is done and seen by the world that he was innocent,” the plea said.
The Delhi High Court had said Wednesday there were no grounds to interfere in the detailed and reasoned order of the trial court. Earlier Tuesday the trial court dismissed Mukesh’s plea and asked the Bar Council of India to appropriately sensitise his counsel.
It should be stated here that March 5, the trial court issued fresh warrants for hanging on March 20 at 5.30am of all convicts in the case – Mukesh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Singh (31).
Meanwhile after all the verdicts were announced and after a Delhi court dismissed a plea by three of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya case, her mother Thursday said her daughter’s soul will now rest in peace and she had got justice seven years after the gruesome gangrape and murder that shook the nation.
“Finally the convicts will be hanged. Now I will get peace,” Asha Devi said Thursday evening.
PTI