New Delhi, December 18: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the review petition filed by Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case, and upheld earlier judgement that awarded him a death sentence. A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi comprising Justices AS Bopanna and Ashok Bhushan heard the review plea. The 23-year-old victim’s mother hailed the Supreme Court verdict. “I am very happy,” she said. Vartika Singh, International Shooter, Wants to be Hangwoman For Nirbhaya Rapists, Writes Letter to Amit Shah in Blood.

Justice R Banumathi, reading the judgment, said, “Considering the submissions, we have said that the petitioner has sought to assail the facts yet again which can't be done at this stage. Grounds raised are identical to the ones raised in the review Petitions filed in this case by other convicts which were dismissed then. So far as the flaws in the investigation, all these things have been considered by the trial court, High Court and then it was confirmed by this court too We do not find any error on the face of the record. Petition of Akshay Kumar Singh dismissed.”

During the hearing, Akshay Kumar Singh's lawyer AP Singh said that the forged reports were prepared and Akshay was falsely implicated" in the case. The lawyer also demanded that capital punishment should be abolished the country."Execution kills the crime, not the criminal," AP Singh said.

"The convict doesn't deserve any leniency. God would feel ashamed of creating such a monster. There are certain crimes where humanity cries and this case is one of them," said Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, contesting the convict's petition.

The hearing of Singh's plea was delayed by a day after Chief Justice Sharad Bobde recused himself from hearing the review plea. The Chief Justice of India had recused himself because his nephew had represented Nirbhaya (name changed) in a court earlier.

A total of five men were convicted in December 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. One convicted killed himself in Tihar; the other juvenile was sent to a correction facility for three years.

On July 9 2018, the top court had rejected review pleas filed by other three convicts- Mushesh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma in the case. The convicts are kept in Jail number 3 of Tihar Prison, where they are lodged in separate cells.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 18, 2019 01:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).