The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) has deferred pronouncement of verdict on the minor accused in the December 16 gang-rape case till July 25.
The much-awaited judgement on the juvenile, said to be the cruelest of the six criminals who gang-raped and brutalised the hapless para-medical student, was to be delivered on Thursday.
The JJB, presided by Principal Magistrate Geetanjali Goel, was to pronounce the judgement on July 11, but delayed it by two weeks without citing any reason.
The JJB began the inquiry in March and recorded statements of six prosecution witnesses during the trial of the minor who was charged with murder after the victim succumbed to her injuries on December 29 in a Singapore hospital.
Rajesh Tiwari, counsel for the minor said: “The accused will learn of his fate on July 25. The judgement has been kept in a sealed cover. We don’t know what it says.”
On being asked about the reason behind the court’s decision to defer pronouncement of the judgement, Tiwari said he could not hazard a guess.
The family of the gang-rape victim, who was waiting for the verdict outside the JJB, was visibly upset over the judgement being deferred.
Speaking to the media, her parents stressed on capital punishment for the juvenile, who was dubbed as the "most brutal" of all the other accused, in the charge sheet filed by the CBI.
According to a police official, the counsel for the juvenile submitted some clarifications related to the incident and also claimed that his client was innocent as he was "not present" in the bus on the night of December 16.
The juvenile was alleged to have joined the five other accused, identified as Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur, on the bus.
During the enquiry, the juvenile had denied all charges against him, claiming he was not a participant in the horrendous crime.
Investigations carried out by Delhi Police had found that it was he who had enticed the young girl and her male friend into the bus on the pretext of taking them to their destination.
Though the juvenile is one of the six accused in the case that sparked national outrage and faces serious charges of rape and murder, however, if convicted, he can only be sent to an observation home for a maximum of three years.
The JJB had concluded its inquiry against the juvenile on July 5.