Delhi gang rape: SC to deliver verdict on convicts' plea
New Delhi, July 8 : The Supreme Court on Monday will pronounce its verdict on pleas filed by the three death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang rape case.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Ashok Bhushan would deliver the judgement at 2 p.m. on the review petitions of Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh.
The fourth accused, Akshay Thakur, has not filed a review petition yet.
The convicts' counsel pleaded that the police had implicated the "innocent" persons after failing to arrest the real culprits.
It was contended that the death penalty was not the solution as it was against the principle of non-violence. Further, the convicts were not habitual offenders with a criminal history.
The top court had, in its May 5, 2017 verdict, upheld the death sentences awarded to the four convicts by a trial court and confirmed by the Delhi High Court.
They were convicted for raping and assaulting a 23-year-old para-medical student inside a moving bus on December 16, 2012, which led to her death 13 days later in a Singapore hospital.
The rapists, six in all, had comitted the crime on the woman who had boarded the bus with her male friend to go home after watching a movie.
One of the accused, Ram Singh, committed suicide in Tihar Central Jail here.
The sixth, a minor, was sent to a correction home and has been released after serving his probation period.
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Misuse of power, money to control election mechanism seen during Maharashtra polls: Sharad Pawar
Pune (PTI): NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed the misuse of power and money to control the entire election mechanism, which was never before seen in any state assembly or national polls, was witnessed in Maharashtra.
Pawar made the statement when he visited senior activist Dr Baba Adhav, who is protesting against the alleged "misuse of EVMs" in the recent state polls in Maharashtra.
Adhav, who is in his 90s, began his three-day protest at Phule Wada, the residence of social reformer Jyotiba Phule, in the city on Thursday.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies, the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), have been alleging manipulation of EVMs in the recently held Maharashtra Assembly elections, which saw a landslide victory by the Mahayuti.
The Mahayuti, comprising the Shiv Sena, BJP and NCP, won 230 out of 288 assembly seats in the November 20 polls, while the MVA managed just 46 seats.Talking to reporters, Pawar said elections were conducted recently in the country, and there is a restlessness among the people about these.
Baba Adhav's agitation represents this restlessness, he said.
He said, "There is a murmur among the people that the recent polls in Maharashtra saw 'misuse of power' and 'floods of money', which was never seen in the past. Such things are heard of in local-level polls, but taking over the entire election mechanism with the help of money and misuse of power was not seen before. However, we witnessed it in Maharashtra, and people are restless now."
He added that people were recalling late socialist ideologue Jaiprakash Narayan and felt somebody should take a step forward.
"I heard Baba Adhav has taken a lead into this issue and is agitating at Phule Wada. His protest gives hope to the people, but it is not enough. A mass revolt is necessary, as the danger of the parliamentary democracy getting destroyed looms," Pawar said.
The former Union minister said those who have reins of the country in their hands are least bothered about this.
"Despite widespread discussion over it (alleged misuse of EVMs) in the country, whenever the opposition tries to raise the issue in the Parliament, they are not allowed to speak. Opposition leaders have been seeking an opportunity to speak on these issues for six days, but their demands have not been accepted even once. It shows they want to attack parliamentary democracy," he claimed.
He said Dr Adhav's protest is a fine example of someone revolting against the issue and expressed confidence that his protest will create a ripple effect.
