"Review petition is not re-hearing of appeal over and over again," the apec court said. "We find no grounds for review of 2017 verdict upholding death penalty of convict," it ruled.
After the verdict, Akshay's counsel told the Supreme Court that convict wants to file mercy petition before the President of India and sought three weeks time to file it. To this, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said seven days can be given to file review and that one week is the time prescribed to file mercy petition before the President. Court said petitioner can avail the relief of mercy petition within the time stipulated.
Akshay Singh's lawyer AP Singh had appealed to the bench to not give death sentence to him, arguing that he has falsely been implicated in the case.
Nirbhaya's mother expects similar verdict by Patiala House Court:
Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi expressed her happiness at the judgment of the apex court and thanked media for its support. She said that another heraing on death warrant of the four accused is lined up in the Patiala House Court for 2 pm and said that she expects similar verdict there as well.
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'Akshay is falsely implicated,' convict's counsel tells SC during course of hearing:
During the course of proceedings, Singh told a newly-constituted bench headed by Justice R Banumathi, that his client has been "falsely implicated" in the case and argued against the death penalty awarded to him. "Death penalty is a primitive method of punishment. Execution kills the criminal not the crime. Use of the death penalty did not seem to have a deterrent effect on criminals and convicts," Singh contended.
The counsel said that the victim died of septicaemia and drug overdose and wrong reports were made to falsely implicate his client.
"The dying declaration was doubtful. This was tutored. This was not voluntary. She has not named Akshay as the accused who had committed the offence."
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi state, said that no mercy should be granted. "There are crimes where humanity is put to shame...crimes when God cries...there should be no mercy," he said.
Akshay has moved the top court seeking review of its 2017 verdict which upheld the death penalty awarded to him and three others in the case.
The matter was adjourned on Tuesday after Chief Justice of India SA Bobde recused himself from the bench hearing the matter citing personal grounds. A new bench, comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and SA Bopanna, has been constituted to hear Akshay Kumar Singh's review petition.
Singh has sought modification and leniency in the sentence. Notably, Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan were part of the court's bench which rejected the review petitions of other three convicts in the case and upheld the death penalty. In May 2017, Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay had knocked the doors of the apex court against a Delhi High Court order which confirmed the capital punishment awarded to them by the trial court in September 2013.
Also watch: Convict's death penalty review plea will be rejected, says Nirbhaya's mother
In a voluminous judgement, the bench of the top court had held the attitude of offenders as "bestial proclivity" and said, "It sounds like a story from a different world where humanity is treated with irreverence." Subsequently, the three convicts besides Akshay had sought review of the judgment but it was dismissed. They are facing the gallows for rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012.
Besides four convicts, prime accused Ram Singh had committed suicide in the Tihar jail during the trial of the case. Another accused in the matter was a minor and had appeared before a juvenile justice court.