Nirbhaya case: SC rejects Pawan’s plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court began its hearing on the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by Nirbhaya case convict Pawan Kumar Gupta on Monday afternoon. During the hearing, the SC slammed the convict’s counsel for causing a delay in the judgement. The Supreme Court also observed that Pawan was not a minor when the incident took place.

In his plea, Pawan had claimed that he was a juvenile when the incident took place in 2012. During the hearing, Justice Ashok Bhushan observed, “On July 8, 2018, your (Pawan) petition was dismissed by this court, but now how come you are coming with some new information, how this will be maintainable?”

AP Singh said that he will take further legal steps after the SC gives a written order on the dismissal of the SLP filed by Pawan. He said that they have submitted all necessary documents with the court. The lawyer also said that the documents have been verified by the Delhi Police.

Pawan’s lawyer told the court that his (Pawan) age was taken as a ‘mitigating circumstance’ at the time of the sentencing. His lawyer further argued that Pawan’s trial was not safe and that court had passed its judgement in “undue haste”. The counsel claimed, “It was a media trial under a political press.” AP Singh also told the court that Pawan was 17-years, 1 month and 20 days old when the incident took place. In the petition, AP Singh said that as per school documents, Pawan was born on October 8, 1996.