Gang rape case: HC to start hearing from Wednesday

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will hear on a day-to-day basis from Wednesday the death penalty against the four convicts in the December 16 gang-rape and murder case of a 23-year-old girl.

A bench of Justices Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani, after recording the appearances of convicts Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan Gupta (19) and Vinay Sharma (20) on Tuesday said, “Let us hear the death reference from tomorrow on a day-to-day basis. Meanwhile, you (convicts) file the appeal.”

During the hearing, advocate V K Anand, representing convict Mukesh, told the court that he will file an appeal within the stipulated time (30 days) give by the trial court.

He said the court should hear the reference along with the appeal of the convicts.

Advocate Vivek Sharma, appearing for Pawan, also made a similar request to the bench, saying the court should hear the matter at least after one week.

Counsel A P Singh submitted that he will appear for convicts Akshay and Vinay.

The bench, however, declined their request, saying, “We will not dispose of the reference till you file your appeal, but nothing prevents us from hearing the background of the case. We were told that there are four bags of documents and the State can open the case from Wednesday.”

“Only one counsel can attend the proceedings to note down the points. You all counsel need not be present in the court.

On September 13, while awarding capital punishment to Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay, the trial court had referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the sentence.

The trial court has to refer each death penalty case to the high court for confirmation of the punishment. The trial court had granted 30 days’ time to the convicts to file their appeal before the high court. – See more at: http://post.jagran.com/december-16-gangrape-case-hc-to-start-hearing-from-wednesday-1380003147#sthash.vgjgRp6i.dpuf