The Supreme Court, on Monday, posted for final hearing on July 18 in the appeals filed by four accused in the Nirbhaya gang rape case seeking to quash the Delhi high court verdict confirming the death sentence awarded to them for the December 16, 2012 incident in the capital.
The convicts, Vinay Sharma (21), Akshay Thakur (29), Mukesh (27) and Pawan Gupta (20) were awarded death sentence and the apex court had stayed their execution. The Delhi high court had upheld their conviction and awarded death penalty by terming the offence as “extremely fiendish” and “unparalleled in the history of criminal jurisprudence” and said the “exemplary punishment” was the need of the hour.
Though arguments started in April before a three-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, arguments will have to be made afresh since the combination of judges in the bench has been changed. The bench comprises of Justices Dipak Misra, C. Nagappan and Ms R. Banumathi. The court had earlier appointed senior counsel Raju Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde as amicus curiae to render assistance in the case.
During the resumed hearing on Monday, the bench indicated that it will hear the matter from July 18 between 2 pm and 6 pm with a view to expedite the hearing and the counsel readily accepted the suggestion. When counsel G.S. Mani, appearing for the two accused — Vinay and Akshay — wanted to withdraw from the appeal as the court had appointed two senior lawyers as amicus curiae, the bench made it clear that the appointment of amicus was not a reflection on the competence or otherwise of the arguing counsel.
