In ‘Kalyug’ life is short, “Why death penalty?”
A convict in Nirbhaya gang rape, murder case moves SC seeking review of death penalty
New Delhi, Dec 10: One of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking review of its 2017 judgement awarding them death penalty, with his lawyer questioning the capital punishment at a time life is getting "short" due to rising pollution.
Akshya Kumar Singh, 33, who had not filed a review plea along with the three other convicts earlier, moved the apex court with the petition through his lawyer A P Singh and fervently pleaded against the award of death penalty in the case.
The review plea referred to the health risks due to the rising pollution level in Delhi and said, "Life is going short to short, then why death penalty".
A 23-year-old paramedic student, who came to be known as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a running bus in south Delhi by six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road. She succumbed to injuries on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
"The state must not simply execute people to prove that it is attacking terror or violence against women. It must persistently work towards systematic reforms to bring about change. Executions only kill the criminal, not the crime...," the review plea said.
The top court had in July 9 last year dismissed the review pleas by Mukesh (30), Pawan Gupta (23) and Vinay Sharma (24) in the case, saying no grounds have been made out by them for review of the 2017 verdict.
One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail here.
A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.
The apex court in its 2017 verdict had upheld the capital punishment awarded to them by the Delhi High Court and the trial court in the case.
Akshya, presently lodged in a jail here, has said in his plea that the death penalty entails "cold blooded killing" and it does not provide convicts the chance to reform.
The plea referred to the moral reasons for abolition of the death penalty and said that there was no evidence to show that such a punishment has got a deterrent value.
It also referred to the observations of former Chief Justice of India P N Bhagwati that the convicts, hailing from poor background, are more likely to be sent to the gallows.
"If our criminal justice system cannot guarantee the consistent application of legal standards and the rule of law, then, how can we allow judiciary to decide as to who should live or die," it said.
The plea, strangely, talked about the health risks such as rising pollution level in Delhi and said, "Life is going short to short, then why death penalty."
The plea also talked about the life span of human beings in present age and said that there was no reason to continue with the death penalty.
"Why death penalty? When age is reducing, it is mentioned in our 'Ved', 'Puranas' and 'Upanishads' that in the age of 'Satyug' people lived the life of a thousand years. In the age of 'Dwapara' they used to live for hundreds of years. But now it is 'Kalyug', in this era, age of human beings have reduced much. It has now come to 50-60 years, and rarely we listen of a person who is in the age of 100 years.
"Very few people reach up to the age of 80-90 years. This is almost a very true analysis. When we look around us then we come to the conclusion, more or less this analysis is true when a person faces the stark realities of life and passes through the adverse situation, then he is no better that a dead body..."
So far as legal remedies are concerned, the three convicts, except Akshya, can still file curative pleas in the top court against their conviction and death penalty in the case.
After exhausting the remedy of filing curative pleas, the convicts can still move the President with their mercy pleas and in case of their (mercy pleas) dismissal, the authorities can seek issuance of death warrant from a local court to execute them.
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Allen, Raghuvanshi, Green power KKR to 29-run win over GT
Kolkata (PTI): Finn Allen blasted a 35-ball 93, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi hit an unbeaten 44-ball 82 as Kolkata Knight Riders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-run win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL match here on Saturday.
Sent in to bat, Allen went on a six-hitting spree, smashing 10 maximums and four boundaries to add 95 off 41 balls with Raghuvanshi (82).
Raghuvanshi then shared another 108 off 53 balls with Cameron Green (52 not out) to power KKR to a challenging 247 for 2.
In reply, GT could manage 218-4, riding on skipper Shubman Gill's 49-ball 85 and a 35-ball 57 from Jos Buttler. Opener Sai Sudarsan was retired hurt but returned to make a 28-ball 53 not out.
Sunil Narine (2/29) claimed two wickets and Saurabh Dubey snapped one for KKR.
For GT, Mohammed Siraj (1/50), Sai Kishore (1/38) were the wicket-takers.
Brief Score:
KKR: 247 for 2 in 20 overs (Finn Allen 93, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 82 not out, Camero Green 52 not out; Mohammed Siraj 1/50).
GT: 218 for 4 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 85, Sunil Narine 2/29).
