Justice For Nirbhaya: Supreme Court Quashes Petition, Upholds Death Penalty 

The Supreme Court today (9 July) upheld the death sentence awarded to three out of the four convicts in the Delhi gang-rape and murder case of December 2012.

Pronouncing the judgement on the review petitions filed by the three convicts in the ‘Nirbhaya’ case, a three-judge bench of the top court, comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Bhanumathi, upheld the death sentence.

The apex court had on 4 May reserved its order on the review petitions filed by the convicts - Pawan Gupta (31), Vinay Sharma (25), and Mukesh (31). The fourth convict, Akshay Thakur (33) has not filed a review petition yet; this is despite the fact that the apex court had in the last hearing, granted him three weeks’ time to file his review petition.

Out of the six persons that had committed the heinous crime, prime accused Ram Singh had committed suicide in Tihar jail in 2013. Another accused was remanded to a reformation home for three years, as he was found to be a minor by the Juvenile Justice Board.

A fast-track court had, on 13 September, 2013 pronounced death sentence to all the four convicts, after which the case was referred to the Delhi High Court for confirmation of the death sentence. The Delhi High Court had in January 2017, reserved its verdict on confirming the death sentence and appeals of the four convicts.

The Supreme Court had on 5 May, 2017, upheld the capital punishment order of the Delhi High Court for the four convicts. Then, the three convicts appealed before the Supreme Court for reviewing its order of sentencing them to the gallows.

It will be remembered that on 16 December, 2012, the 23-year-old paramedical student was assaulted and raped by six persons in a moving bus in Delhi and thrown out with her male friend; she had subsequently died during treatment in Singapore on 29 December, 2012.

The fourth convict is yet to file a review petition. Advocate A P Singh, representing the fourth death row convict Akshay, said, "Akshay has not filed a review petition yet. We will be filing it,” as quoted by the Deccan Herald.