December 16 gangrape: 2 convicts move HC seeking copy of DNA report
HC on March 13 had upheld the death sentence awarded to the four convicts
New Delhi: Two convicts of the December 16 gangrape case moved the Delhi High Court on Friday seeking directions to CBI to provide copies of the DNA reports that were relied upon while convicting them.
Mukesh and Pawan Gupta prayed that the reports be provided to them before start of arguments in the Supreme Court in their appeals against their conviction and death sentence ordered by the trial court and upheld by the high court.
Justice Pratibha Rani, before whom the matter was listed, is likely to hear the petition on February 18.
In their plea, filed through advocate M L Sharma, the duo contended that true copies of the DNA reports were not filed in court nor provided to them to defend themselves.
Their petition claims that the reports, prepared by the CBI's forensic lab here, will not be provided to them till it is so directed by the high court.
The high court on March 13 had upheld the death sentence awarded to the four convicts in the brutal gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old girl here on December 16, 2012 that shook the nation's conscience and led to widespread protests.
The court had confirmed the sentence of Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh, saying the offence committed by them falls in the category of rarest of the rare and upheld their conviction.
The trial court had on September 13, last year, awarded capital punishment to the four, saying they be "hanged till death" as the "beastly" and "hair-raising" manner in which the crime was committed against the girl fell in the rarest of the rare category.
On the night of December 16, 2012, Ram Singh, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, Mukesh and a juvenile had gangraped the girl in a bus after luring her and her 28-year-old male friend, who was also assaulted, on board the vehicle, plying illegally on Delhi roads.
The girl succumbed to her injuries on December 29, 2012 in a Singapore hospital.
Ram Singh, who was the prime accused, was found dead in his cell in Tihar Jail in March last year and the proceedings against him were abated.
The sixth accused, the juvenile was on August 31, 2013 convicted and sentenced to a maximum of three years in a reformation home by the Juvenile Justice Board.