The court had acquitted six other accused, including Asaram's wife Laxmiben, their daughter, and four disciples who were accused of aiding and abetting the crime, for want of evidence, the prosecution said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi will decide by circulation in chambers the fate of the five review petitions at 1.50 PM on March 2.
The judge made the remarks while sentencing 25-year-old Mohammad Alim to life imprisonment, convicting him for raping and threatening a student after falsifying his identity.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed till further orders the execution of death penalty of two of the four convicts in the December 16 gang rape and murder case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has brought back Salman Rehman Khan, an alleged member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, from Rwanda. Khan was wanted by the NIA for terror-related offences in Bengaluru. He was traced to Rwanda and returned to India on November 28, 2024. The return of Khan comes after similar operations in coordination with Interpol, where two other accused were brought back from Saudi Arabia.
The juvenile convict in the December 16 gang rape was on Sunday released and sent to an NGO at an undisclosed destination with police no longer guarding him.
"I am not pained at the fact that execution has been postponed but I am pained at the fact that the lawyer of the convicts A P Singh has challenged me saying that the convicts will never be executed, this is the most painful thing," said Asha Devi.
Saxena has also approved engaging Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to represent the Delhi government in the case, a senior official said.
A five-judge Bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the petition filed by Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh. The duo had moved a curative petition in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22.
The Delhi high court on Thursday dismissed the plea of one of the four convicts facing the gallows in the Nirbhaya gang rape-and-murder case claiming that he was a juvenile at the time of the offence in December, 2012. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait also imposed cost of Rs 25,000 on the convict's advocate A P Singh, who did not appear in the court despite several communications sent to him on behalf of the court, for playing "hide and seek".
The juvenile convict in the 'Nirbhaya' gang-rape case of 2012 won't be released from jail and will be under the monitoring of an NGO for a year, sources said.
There has been only one conviction out of over 600 cases of rape reported to Delhi police this year even as crime against women has been on the rise in the national capital.
The HC is expected to render verdict over the release of the juvenile convict in the Delhi gang-rape case.
In his counter-affidavit, Radhey Shyam, who was recently released by the Gujarat government on remission, said that none of the petitioners are related to the case and are either political activists or "third party stranger".
Singhvi said when the release was ordered on August 15, the Modi government maintained a studied and deliberate silence on freeing the criminals, an action which has drawn legitimate criticism the world over and "exposed our system to widespread shame and ridicule".
An advocate on Wednesday informed the Delhi high court that he will represent two death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape -- Mukesh and Pawan whose counsel had withdrawn from the case on Tuesday -- but the court rejected his plea for recusal of one of the judges from the case.
He further commented on the current state of public discourse, saying a "mob rule" is being created wherein politicians capitalise on certain incidents and assure people of the death penalty for culprits even though only the judiciary has the power to pass legal verdicts.
The petition has been filed by convict Mukesh Kumar whose mercy plea was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17.
A special CBI court in Panchkula on Friday convicted Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh for the murder of former Dera manager Ranjit Singh in 2002.
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.
Anyone endangering sovereignty or integrity of India may get a maximum punishment of life imprisonment while those involved in mob lynching and rape of minor may be given the maximum punishment of death sentence.
The family members of the convicts, on the hand, held placards stating that "five people cannot be hanged for the death of one person".
The three convicts who approached the ICJ are Akshay Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma. The International Court of Justice, sometimes called the World Court, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
Former Dera manager Ranjit Singh, who was also a follower of the sect, was shot dead in 2002.
The move came days after the Supreme Court vacated the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on the trial in three sacrilege cases.
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.
Nirbhaya's father expressed hope that the convicts will be hanged this month.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case on the Centre's appeal challenging the Delhi high court verdict which dismissed its plea against stay on their execution.
Prajapati and two other convicts Ashok Tiwari and Ashish Shukla were present in the court when the judgment was pronounced.
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 UN calls on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment or put a moratorium on it.
The Kerala high court on Wednesday reduced to 10 years, the 20 year jail term awarded by a lower court to a defrocked priest convicted in the Kottiyoor rape case.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma adjourned hearing in the case till Friday.
Nirbhaya gang rape and murder convict Akshay Kumar has filed a second mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind just three days before his scheduled hanging on March 20.
The Juvenile Justice Board has held the minor guilty of illegally confining and robbing a carpenter on December 16 night before allegedly participating in the gang rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in New Delhi.
Often portrayed as the 'most brutal' face of that fateful night's violence, he is said to be oblivious of the latest developments in the case.
The Delhi government moved a court on Wednesday seeking fresh date for the execution of four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. Additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana directed the convicts to file their response by Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to constitute a three-judge bench to consider the Delhi police's plea for a review of its verdict acquitting three death row convicts in the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi's Chhawla area in 2012.
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.
A court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 20 years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for raping a minor girl in 2021, relying on the deposition of the six-year-old victim and other prosecution witnesses.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances