Nirbhaya Case: Another Convict Moves Delhi HC Claiming He Was Juvenile In 2012; Hearing On Thursday

Seeking to be declared a juvenile at the time of occurrence of the incident, Pawan alleged that his ossification test was not conducted by the investigating officers and claimed benefit under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act.

Pawan, who was awarded death sentence, is currently lodged in Tihar jail. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: Hours after the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the review petition of one of the four convicts in the gruesome Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, another plea has been filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta in Delhi High Court which is listed for hearing on Thursday before Justice Suresh Kumar Kait. Seeking to be declared a juvenile at the time of occurrence of the incident, Pawan alleged that his ossification test was not conducted by the investigating officers and claimed benefit under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. According to reports, the convict in his plea said that the provision of section 7A of JJ Act lays down that a claim of juvenility may be taken before any court and it shall be recognised at any stage, even after final disposal of the case. Pawan, who was awarded death sentence, is currently lodged in Tihar jail, sought that the concerned authority be directed to conduct his ossification test to ascertain his claim of juvenility. Besides Pawan, the other three convicts in the case are Mukesh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh. Earlier in the day, Supreme Court ruled out that  convict Akshay Kumar Singh's age, socio-economic background, unblemished antecedents and chances to reform fade into insignificance as the offence committed by him falls under "rarest of rare" cases, and therefore the death penalty is confirmed. Singh had moved the apex court seeking a review on the capital punishment handed down to him and other three accused in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. The top court upheld the death penalty in 2017 and dismissed the review by other accused in 2018. A bench, headed by Justice R. Banumathi and comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and A.S. Bopanna, said: "In light of the aggravating circumstances and considering that the case falls within the category of 'rarest of rare cases', the death penalty is confirmed." The top court noted Singh's review petition was a mirror image of petitions of the other convicts. "The grounds raised in the present review petition are almost a repetition of the arguments raised in the earlier review petitions which were rejected and in our view, cannot be raised repeatedly," it said.   In the matter of issuing death warrants to the convicts, Delhi's Patiala House Court today adjourned the matter for January 7, directing the Tihar Jail authorities to issue a fresh notice to the convicts granting them time to access their legal remedies. While hearing the Nirbhaya gang rape case on Wednesday told the victim's mother that "We know somebody has died but they (convicts) too have some legal rights." After a long date of hearing was given, Asha Devi, the mother of the victim, broke down. Addressing her, the judge said, "I have full sympathy with you. I know someone has died but there are their rights too. We are here to listen to you but are also bound by the law." A 23-year-old paramedic student was gang raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 in a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons before she was thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012 at a hospital in Singapore. During the course of hearing, the prosecution filed an application seeking issuance of death warrants against the convicts. A juvenile involved in the crime was convicted by a juvenile justice board and released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.