New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea by Mukesh Singh, convict in the December 16 gang rape case, challenging an order of the trial court which had rejected his claim that he was not present in the city when a 23-year-old paramedic was gang raped on a moving bus in 2012. The court said that a fair and proper trial was conducted by the city court where proper opportunity was given to him.
Justice Brijesh Sethi said that plea by Singh is “frivolous” and in case there was any torture on him in the jail, he could have informed the court, high court or could have brought it to the notice of his relatives during his meetings with them in the prison.
“….the plea is taken at this stage only to delay the proceedings and therefore, the contention of the petitioner (Singh) cannot be accepted and the same is rejected,” the judge said even as a city court on Wednesday sought the response of the Tihar jail authorities on the plea by other three convicts—Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta—seeking stay on the execution since two of them had filed a second mercy petition, just a couple of days before the scheduled hanging on March 20.
The single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court said that the points being raised ought have to be raised at the correct stage and bringing them now would not be of any benefit to the convicts.
{{/usCountry}}The single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court said that the points being raised ought have to be raised at the correct stage and bringing them now would not be of any benefit to the convicts.
{{/usCountry}}On Tuesday, a city court had dismissed the plea by Singh where he had contended that the police had falsely implicated him and did not show the actual date of arrest. However, the court held that all these defenses have already been rejected by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court while considering the appeals at various stages.
On Wednesday, Sharma told the court that his client was arrested from Karoli, Rajasthan on December 17, 2012 and not on December 18, 2012 as contended by the prosecution. He had also contended that he was tortured in the jail.
However, Advocate Rahul Mehra, the standing counsel of the state, opposed the plea and said it is a desperate attempt to stall the execution and the plea is liable to be dismissed.
“What prevented them to tell about torture if he was facing it in jail. Mukesh could have written a letter to the competent authority about the torture,” he said.
Following this, the court passed its judgment late evening and said, “There is nothing on record to state that the trial stands vitiated because material evidence were concealed. There is, thus, no infirmity, illegality or irregularity in the order passed by the trial court”.
Late in the afternoon, three convicts—Gupta, Thakur and Sharma—had moved the trial court seeking a stay on the execution citing various pleas that are pending before the President of India and other courts of law.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana issued notice on the plea while also seeking to know about the last minute pleas filed by him to stop the hanging of the four convicts who were found guilty of brutally gang raping a 23-year-old paramedic student on a moving bus on December 16, 2012.
“Why do you approach the court only at last hour? Is there anything pending anywhere?,” the judge asked AP Singh.
Singh replied that a curative petition by Pawan Gupta claiming juvenility at the time of the incident is pending before the Supreme Court. In his plea, Singh has stated that he has filed a second mercy petition for Gupta and Akshay before the President of India. He also said that a divorce petition by Thakur’s wife is pending in a court of Bihar.
Citing the bad air quality and the recent epidemic of corona virus, the plea said that the date of March 20 for hanging of the four convicts is “unsustainable” and hence the date should be postponed till further orders. He said another appeal by Gupta’s father against the star witness is pending adjudication before the Delhi High Court.
The Public prosecutor appearing for the Tihar jail opposed the plea. However, the court issued notice and posted the matter for further hearing on Thursday at 12 PM.