Setting aside the conviction of a tribal man in the alleged murder of a woman, the Madhya Pradesh high court has slammed the police saying they investigated the case with the "sole purpose of falsely implicating" him, and directed the state government to pay Rs 42 lakh to him as he spent over 13 years behind bars "awaiting justice".
Rautu Ka Raaz is a dragged-out slow burner of a film that just fails to ignite, sighs Mayur Sanap.
Pawan is the only one among the four convicts who has not yet filed the curative petition -- the last legal remedy available to a person, which is decided in-chamber. He has not filed the mercy plea either.
The anger and the anguish are on the rise. News of a botched-up post mortem, tampering of evidence, a hurried cremation has gone global, reports Payal Singh Mohanka from London.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved verdict on a plea of one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.
He was disqualified as Lok Sabha member on January 25, days after a sessions court at Kavaratti had convicted him and three others on charges of attempting to murder P Salih and sentenced all the three to rigourous imprisonment for 10 years.
Gulshan Kumar, also known as the 'Cassette king', was shot dead in August 1997 outside a temple in suburban Andheri.
On Wednesday, the court had convicted Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Mohammad Salman and Saifurrehman. Another accused, Shahbaz Hussain, was acquitted with the court giving him the benefit of the doubt. The serial blasts rocked Jaipur on the evening of May 13, 2008 within a two-kilometre radius in the walled city, popular also with tourists.
The fourth convict, Pawan Gupta, has not filed a curative petition, which he still can if he chooses.
Supreme Court judgement pronounced on Monday quashing the Gujarat government's decision to grant remission to 11 convicts in the case of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 riots in the state, said the orders were "stereotyped".
The representation of women in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls continues to remain dismally low, as only about 12 percent of the candidates in the fray in the fifth phase are female, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
Determined not to be arm-twisted into delaying the execution, he decided to hold a late night hearing at his residence. In the pitch blackness of the night, the original verdict was upheld. The next morning, on 9 October 1992, General Vaidya's assassins were hanged until death.
Advocate A P Singh moved an application alleging that the jail authorities are yet to release the documents which are required to file curative petitions for Akshay Kumar Singh, 31, and Pawan Singh, 25.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted, in accordance with its May 9 order, notices have been published in local newspapers, including those in Gujarati and English, against the convicts who could not be served (the notice).
Mehta told Justice Suresh Kait that convict Pawan Gupta's move of not filing a curative or a mercy petition is a deliberate, calculated inaction.
The 11 convicts in the case of gang-rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat can approach the Maharashtra government with request for remission of their sentences.
The petition sought recording of calls, documents and reports by an investigating agency like CBI and to declare that the convict has legal and constitutional rights to approach any court at any time even in the last minute of hanging.
The judge passed the order on the plea by the convicts seeking adjournment of the executions 'sine die'. The four were scheduled to be hanged on February 1 at 6 am. This is for the second time that the execution of the death warrants has been deferred.
Jail officials said that after the death warrants were issued, the convicts were asked when they would like to meet their respective families for the last time, but none of them has responded yet. They are scheduled to be hanged on February 1.
The convicts can also avail the constitutional remedy of filing mercy pleas with the President.
'This should have happened long ago. God took a long time, but did good'
Nikam has replaced two-time MP Poonam Mahajan, who is the daughter of the late BJP stalwart Pramod Mahajan.
Manjunath (27), a sales officer with Indian Oil Corporation and a graduate from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, paid with his life for exposing an alleged petrol adulteration racket.
Haryana Jail Minister Ranjit Singh Chautala also said, "Gurmeet Ram Rahim is like every other prisoner here and he also has his fundamental rights."
The Supreme Court is scheduled to resume hearing on Thursday a clutch of petitions challenging the remission granted to all 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang-rape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah held Singh's plea as not maintainable saying that the review petition and the curative petition have both been dismissed in the case.
Kailash Dhobi is one of 11 persons convicted for murder and other offences, and is listed as accused number 1 by the SIT in the Gulberg society case in which 69 persons, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri, were killed.
The MHA's plea sought a direction from the top court in fixing the deadline for filing of curative pleas after the rejection of review petitions. The MHA submitted that the top court should 'mandate all the competent courts, state governments, prison authorities in the country to issue death warrant of a convict within seven days of the rejection of his mercy petition.
The Gujarat government has said the apex court's observation in the January 8 judgment, holding the state guilty of "usurpation of power" and "abuse of discretion" for complying with an order of another top court bench, was an "error apparent on the face of the record" primarily on three grounds.
The dera chief, who is serving a 20-year jail term for raping two disciples, was granted 40-day parole on January 20.
Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday hailed the court's order, saying that 'India's daughter gets justice.'
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Kerala high court order rejecting NCP leader Mohammed Faizal's petition seeking suspension of his conviction in an attempt to murder case, an order which may lead to revocation of his disqualification as Lok Sabha MP for a second time.
'Capital punishments have rarely acted as a deterrent. What we need to do is to make our society, our workplaces, our streets safe for women'
The four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case spent a restless and sleepless night. They were asked to take a bath but none of them did. All of them were served their last meal but one of them refused breakfast before being taken to the gallows, an official said.
South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is set to be released from prison on parole in August after serving 10 months for culpable homicide in the killing of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a family member said.
The RJD has fielded six women candidates, some of them are wives of bahubalis.
The Buxar jail, the only prison in the state having the required knowhow, received an instruction to the effect last week
The Kerala high court has acquitted 13 Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers in a case relating to the killing of a Communist Party of India-Marxist activist in Thiruvananthapuram in 2008, saying the prosecution had miserably failed to prove the incriminating circumstances against the accused.
The president had last month also rejected the clemency petition of another accused, Mukesh Singh.
