New Delhi: Two of the four Nirbhaya killers facing death sentence in the December 2012 gang rape incident pleaded for mercy and urged the Supreme Court to commute their capital punishment into one of life imprisonment.
A Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices Ms. R. Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan reserved verdict on the review pleas filed by three of the four convicts—Mukesh, Vinay Kumar and Pawan Kumar.
The fourth convict Akshay is yet to file any review of the May 2017 judgment confirming death sentence to the accused. The court had concluded arguments advanced on behalf of Mukesh in December 2017. The court had earlier stayed their execution pending disposal of review petitions.
On Friday counsel A.P. Singh, appearing for Vinay Kumar and Pawan Kumar submitted that the two petitioners are very young and hail from poor families and the capital punishment confirmed by the apex court must be reviewed. Counsel argued that death penalty had been abolished in most of the countries and death penalty is a cold-blooded killing in the name of justice. Seeking mercy, counsel argued that execution kills criminals and not the crime. He also brought to the notice of the court that the two accused were juveniles when they were arrested. The CJI told the counsel “Death penalty exists in India in the statute book.” Counsel argued that the convicts are not habitual offenders and have no criminal records and court must allow them to be reformed. He also told court that lot of discrepancies was found in the three dying declarations and Nirbhaya didn’t name the accused at all. When counsel sought four weeks time to file review in respect of fourth accused Akshay, the court said already sufficient time had been granted and no further time be allowed.
