The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of death penalty on two convicts in the Delhi gang-rape incident while admitting their appeals challenging their conviction in the case.
A Bench of Justices Ranjana Prakash Desai and NV Ramana directed the death sentence of the two accused — Vinay Sharma (21) and Akshay (29) — to be put on hold as in March this year, the court had issued similar order staying the death sentence of the remaining accused, Mukesh (27) and Pawan Gupta (20).
Both Vinay and Akshay had approached the apex court after their appeal against their conviction by the trial court was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on March 13 this year.
The apex bench was in two minds when confronted by the appeals as the counsel for Mukesh and Pawan Gupta pointed out that as per a circular being prepared by the Chief Justice of India, death appeals can be heard only by a three-judge Bench. The Bench called the registrar who in turn informed that the decision had yet not been notified upon which the court proceeded to pass orders. The petition has raised objection to the dying declaration of the victim recorded by the SDM, which stated her condition to be “comfortable, happy” at a time when she was unfit and on ventilator.
The victim, a 23-year-old paramedic, on the night of December 16, 2012, was brutally assaulted and gang-raped by six men in a moving bus in South Delhi and later dumped on the road with her male friend. She later died in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.