It has been 7 years but no one has forgotten the horrific crime that took place in the capital on December 16, 2012. According to Business Standard, 4 men were convicted in the Nirbhaya case and sentenced to death by a trial court on September 13, 2013. Thereafter, the Delhi High Court upheld the punishment and so did the Supreme Court on May 5, 2017, deeming the crime “rarest of rare”.
Three convicts (Vinay Kumar, Mukesh Singh, and Pawan Gupta) have already had their mercy petitions rejected by the court. NDTV reports that the fourth, Akshay Kumar Singh, filed a 14-page Criminal Review Petition yesterday.
Not making this up:
Death sentence pointless, since my life is getting shorter anyway due to bad air and water in Delhi, says Review Petition of Akshay Thakur, Nirbhay rape-murder convict. pic.twitter.com/IaBhhjP753
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) December 10, 2019
His lawyer AP Singh filed the plea on his behalf appealing against the death sentence by saying,
“It is important to note here that air quality of Delhi-NCR and metro city is like a gas chamber and not only this, the water of Delhi-NCR is also full of poison. This fact is proved by the Government of India report submitted in the Parliament. Everyone is aware of what is happening in Delhi-NCR with regard to air and water. Life is going to be short, then why death penalty?”
Here’s the portion in Nirbhay convict Akshay’s Review Petition in Supreme Court today where he/his lawyers invoke Delhi’s pollution to get his death sentence cancelled. pic.twitter.com/uixP26FQN2
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) December 10, 2019
News18 further quoted the petition saying,
“It is mentioned in our Ved, Purans, Upanishad that in the age of Satyug, people lived thousands of years. In Treta Yug, a man used to live for thousands of years…but now it is Kalyug. In this era, age of a human being is reduced much. It has now come down to 50-60 years…When a person faces the stark realities of life and passes through the adverse situation, then he is no better than a dead man.”
For good measure, the review petition against death penalty by Nirbhaya convict Akshay also pulls in the Ved Purans and Upanishads: pic.twitter.com/VyoDegJ65q
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) December 10, 2019
People were not impressed by the ‘reasons’ cited in the appeal and had this to say.
Is this real? Can't believe 😱😱😱
— नीरज कुमार सिंह (@N1rajKumar) December 10, 2019
By this logic, he should be executed immediately as otherwise everyone else living in Delhi, is getting same punishment as him without doing any crime.
— Yogendra Singh Sikarwar 🇮🇳 (@ProfYogendra) December 10, 2019
The cheek of the lawyer to suggest that is crazy 🤦🏻♂️
— FlyBoyRed 🇮🇳 🇬🇧 (@I_Aneesh) December 10, 2019
I want to meet the lawyer who drafted it
— Aciditea (@NehaT_) December 10, 2019
Why didn't they remember the teachings of our great Sanatana Dharma while doing this heinous crime! They don't possess any right to live on this earth
— Arya Gupta (@phenomenal_ARYA) December 10, 2019
Pending the Supreme Court’s decision on this last appeal, reports suggest that the 4 convicts will be hanged to death at Tihar Jail.