Nirbhaya Case | Delhi Court Dismisses Convict Mukesh's Plea Seeking Quashing Of Death Penalty

A Delhi court on Tuesday dismissed an application moved by Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts of the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, seeking quashing of the death penalty. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana, after dismissing the plea, transferred the matter to Bar Council of India. The plea filed before Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana claimed Mukesh was arrested from Rajasthan and brought to Delhi on December 17, 2012, and he was not present in the city on December 16, when the crime took place. The plea also alleged that Mukesh Singh was tortured inside the Tihar jail. On March 5, a trial court issued fresh warrants with March 20, 5.30 am, as the date for the execution of convicts Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

Nirbhaya convict has filed for a divorce in a local court in Bihar's Aurangabad. In the plea, the wife of convict Akshay Kumar Singh has said she does not want to live the life of a widow as her husband is set to be hanged on March 20. The court has posted the matter for March 19. Punita, Akshaya's wife, has said, "My husband is innocent. I want to be legally divorced before he is hanged."

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Punita's lawyer Mukesh Kumar Singh, speaking to media in Aurangabad said, "My client (Akshay Kumar Singh's wife Punita Singh) has a right to seek divorce from her husband. That is why I have filed a plea in the family court. She has the right to seek divorce under Section 13(2)(II) of Hindu Marriage Act which says a woman can seek divorce if the husband has, since the solemnisation of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality."

A senior lawyer at Tis Hazari court in Delhi told IANS, "Yes, the woman can file for divorce if her husband has been convicted in a case of rape."

Mukesh through his counsel M.L. Sharma has filed an application claiming that the prosecution deliberately concealed certain documentary evidence to falsely implicate him and secure the death sentence. Mukesh claimed that he was not in the national capital when the crime was committed and was arrested from Rajasthan and brought to Delhi on December 17, 2012, a day after the incident. The application stated that the documents pertaining to him being picked up from Karoli in Rajasthan was hidden to implicate him as "driver and rapist."

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"State concealed following vital documents in the trial court and secured final order to execute death sentence. Trial is outcome of concealment of vital documents by fixing the petitioner in place of actual accused persons, which is liable to be quashed in the interest of justice," the application stated.

(With agency inputs)