Dec 16 gangrape: SC reserves verdict on appeals by convicts on death row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the appeals filed by four death row convicts in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case which shook the country's conscience.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the parties concerned to file their written submissions within a week.

During the arguments, senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Delhi Police, told the bench that these convicts had "brutalised" the young woman and they deserved to be awarded death penalty.

"The offence committed by them (convicts) attracts death penalty. They have not given any mitigating circumstances which could warrant reduction of the sentence from death penalty which was awarded to them," he told the bench also comprising Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

However, senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae in the matter, told the bench that the option of awarding jail term for the whole life to these convicts may also be considered.