The Supreme Court, on Monday, rejected the review petition filed by the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case.
Mentioning that there are no grounds to reconsider the 2017-SC verdict, the Court also stated that reviews can be sought only when there are apparent errors resulting in miscarriage of justice and that the convicts cannot use the review petition to re-argue the case.
Justice Ashok Bhushan delivered the judgement for the Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice R. Banumathi and Justice Bhushan.
The Saket fast-track court had awarded death penalty for four convicts of the Nirbhaya rape case, which was upheld by the Delhi HC in 2017. Three out of the four convicts had filed review petitions with the SC against the death sentence.
AP Singh, the lawyer for the convicts told ANI, “The sentence was upheld due to public and political pressure.”
When asked her course of action if the convicts file a curative petition, Asha Devi, Jyoti's mother told media persons, "We will also follow the due process of law. But we will not rest until the criminals are hanged. Until then, neither Nirbhaya nor the other daughters of the country will get justice."
On December 16, 2012, 23-year-old Jyoti Singh, a paramedic student, was gangraped in a moving bus in New Delhi by six men including a juvenile. She later succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in Singapore on December 29, 2012 after she was taken there for treatment.
This incident sparked massive outrage among the public who held protest marchs and candle-light vigils across the country demanding justice for Jyoti Singh.
The juvenile was convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board in 2013 and sent to a Special home for three years. Another convict, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in his cell in Tihar jail.
Earlier this year the victim’s mother Asha Devi told the media, “It has been six years since the incident and similar incidents are taking place every day. Our system has failed us. Yet we are confident that the judgement will be in our favour and we will get justice.”