New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has rejected the Special Leave Petition filed by Nirbhaya case convict Pawan Kumar Gupta through his counsel, A. P. Singh. Not only has the apex court turned down the petition but also slammed the counsel for causing a delay in the judgement.
The petition by Pawan Kumar Gupta was that he was a minor when the rape and murder of Nirbhaya took place in 2012. However, Justice Ashok Bhushan said, “On July 8, 2018, your (Pawan) petition was dismissed by this court, but now how come you are coming with some new information, how this will be maintainable?”
Pawan Kumar’s counsel, A. P. Singh, said that his client was 17 years, 1 month and 20 days old when the crime occurred. He cited Pawan’s school documents to prove his point.
The Supreme Court, nevertheless, dismissed the petition saying that the court did not find any fresh ground in the matter.
Nirbhaya’s mother also came out against the petition filed by the Pawan Kumar Gupta. She said, “It is just a tactic to delay the execution. His petition was cancelled in 2013 by the Supreme Court. The review petition was also dismissed by the court. He’s doing it just to waste time. All the convicts must be executed on February 1.”
On Friday, the Delhi court has issued a fresh death warrant to the four convicts. The new date for the execution is fixed on 1 February at 6 am.