Nirbhaya case: Supreme Court to hear curative plea January 14

New Delhi: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will consider on January 14 curative petition by Delhi gang-rape death row convicts – Vinay Sharma and Mukesh — seeking a re-look at the top court judgment upholding their death sentence along with two other convicts Pawan Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh.

A bench comprising Justice N.V. Ramana, Justice Arun Mishra, Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, Justice R. Bhanumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan would consider the curative petition in their chambers by circulation.

A bench comprising then Justice Dipak Misra, (who later became CJI and has since retired) Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan had on May 5, 2017, upheld the death sentence of the four convicts.

The curative petition is considered and decided by a bench comprising the judges who had decided the case and two other judges. Since Justice Misra has retired, Justice Banumathi and Justice Bhushan are the only two judges who were part of the bench that had upheld the death sentence of the four. By a top court’s earlier judgment, a case involving appeal against death sentence is heard by a bench of three judges and a curative petition seeking reconsideration of top court’s judgment is considered by a five-judge bench.

Vinay Sharma had moved the curative petition on January 8, 2020, two days after a Delhi Court had issued the death warrants for all the four convicts in the 2012 gang-rape and murder case. The four, as per the death warrant, will be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

Curative petition by Vinay Kumar Sharma has sought the setting aside of the May 05, 2017, top court judgment upholding the death sentence awarded by the trial court and confirmed by the Delhi High Court.