Asserting that her government has zero tolerance to incidents of rape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
'The Supreme Court has now demonstrated its capacity to right its own wrongs, and to place the rule of law above all else.'
Women rights activists are divided over whether the juvenile convict in the December 16 gang rape case should be released.
The UK Home Office has announced a crackdown on illegal working across the country, targeting restaurants, nail bars, convenience stores, and car washes. In January, Immigration Enforcement teams conducted record-breaking raids, arresting 609 individuals, a 73% increase from the previous year. The crackdown comes as the government introduces new legislation aimed at tackling criminal gangs that facilitate illegal immigration. The Home Office highlights the dangers of illegal migration and the exploitation of vulnerable individuals while emphasizing its commitment to safeguarding workers and removing foreign criminals.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the execution of two death row convicts in Karnataka scheduled for Thursday even as one of them allegedly attempted to commit suicide in jail.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has also filed a separate plea challenging the grant of remission to the convicts by the Gujarat government.
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.
Responding to a discussion during Zero Hour in the Lower House, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was falling short of words to condemn the heinous crime.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar termed the plea as "absolutely misconceived" and said how can it sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench of the apex court.
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.
Dhankhar also recorded his sexual assaults using a camera hidden in his bedside alarm clock and on his phone, it said.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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 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 HC is expected to render verdict over the release of the juvenile convict in the Delhi gang-rape case.
Saxena has also approved engaging Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to represent the Delhi government in the case, a senior official said.
Villagers alleged that the minor, who was missing since Friday evening, was raped and murdered, and the police did not act on their complaint immediately.
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.
The apex court said when a particular structure is chosen all of a sudden for demolition and the rest of similarly situated structures in the same vicinity are not even being touched, "mala fide may loom large".
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.
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".
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 family members of the convicts, on the hand, held placards stating that "five people cannot be hanged for the death of one person".
'A murder has occurred in the room, but there were no signs of struggle.' 'RG Kar says the body was discovered at 9:30 am. But the media was informed at 8:30 am.' 'We realised that crucial evidence was being destroyed.' 'She had several bite marks on her neck, but no swab was collected.' 'My daughter had 28 injuries on her body. But there was no DNA of the assailant under her nails.' 'Are you saying she did not try to defend herself?'
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 UN calls on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment or put a moratorium on it.
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.
District Judge Dharmesh Sharma adjourned hearing in the case till Friday.
