SC seeks report on conduct of Dec 16 gang rape convicts

Tihar Jail superintendent was asked by the Supreme Court on Monday to file a report on the conduct of the four death row convicts in the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case.

“In our considered opinion, the superintendent of Jail should have filed the report with regard to the conduct of the accused persons since they are in custody for almost four years. That would have thrown light on their conduct. Let the report with regard to their conduct be filed by the superintendent of Jail in a sealed cover in the court on the next date of hearing,” a special bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra ordered.

The order came after the court took on record the convicts’ affidavits underlining the mitigating circumstances in their favour, which they have elaborated in support of their plea to spare them from death sentence.

The four had on the last hearing got little reprieve after the court agreed to consider their request to appreciate the circumstances in their favour that could save them from the gallows. This was allowed after senior advocate Raju Ramachandran – who is assisting the bench in the case – submitted both the trial court and Delhi high court did not follow the procedure prescribed in the law while punishing the accused.The court also allowed one of the convicts – Mukesh – to file an additional affidavit because his submission was found to be incomplete. The affidavit gave details of how he was tortured in custody and urged the court to hang him because he was no longer able to bear the daily suffering and pain. HTC