SC to pronounce verdict at 1 pm on review plea in Nirbhaya case

The Supreme Court would pronounce at 1 pm on Wednesday (December 18) its verdict on the plea filed by one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, seeking review of its 2017 judgement upholding his death penalty.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi reserved its judgement on the review plea filed by death row convict Akshay Kumar Singh.

Opposing the review plea, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi government, told the bench also comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna, that there are certain crimes where “humanity cries” and this is one of them.

“There are certain crimes where God would feel ashamed in not saving the child (victim) and in creating such a monster. The death penalty does not deserve to be set aside for such crimes,” Mehta said.

He also said that convicts in the Nirbhaya case are making concerted efforts to “delay the inevitable” and the law must take its own course as soon as possible.

Advocate A P Singh, appearing for the convict, had told the court that the age of citizens in Delhi-NCR is reducing due to air and water pollution and there was no need to award death penalty to the convict.