The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay the release of the former juvenile convict in the 16 December 2012 gangrape case.
The High Court also said that post release follow-up monitoring of the former juvenile should be done by the Juvenile Justice Board under the Juvenile Justice Act.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government said it will create process to assess reformation of juveniles before they are released.
The parents of the girl reacted to the judgement with disappointment
The court was bound by the law but I am told a committee can take charge of the convict and I hope that happens. We are not satisfied. Our fight is not over. The crimes are still being committed even against 2-year-old girls. How can we stop our fight against such crimes?Badri Singh Pandey, Jyoti’s Father
Despite our best efforts, this criminal will walk free. We did not get justice.Asha Devi, Jyoti’s Mother
After hearing brief arguments and perusing the post-release plan which was submitted by the Central government, the court had reserved its verdict on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy’s PIL seeking stay on the juvenile’s release.
Reacting to the judgement, Swamy said,
I welcome the judgment, It is a sophisticated and smart judgement under current laws. We agree with you there is a vacuum in the law which provides for reform but doesn’t tell us what to do if he doesn’t reform. The court agreed that monitoring committee which could evaluate whether the convict is mentally sound.
The Centre had on Monday asked the high court to extend the observation home stay of the juvenile convict in 16 December, 2012 gangrape case who is scheduled to be released on Sunday (20 December), saying several mandatory aspects were missing from the post-release rehabilitation plan which needed to be considered before setting him free.
No mention of mental health status and follow-up were among the concerns listed by Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain while appearing for the Centre. He sought an extension of the juvenile’s stay till the time all the missing aspects in the post-release plan are taken into account.
In his petition, Swamy has claimed that there is lacuna in the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, as amended in 2011.
The Supreme Court had earlier rejected Swamy’s petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000.
Six persons, including the juvenile, had brutally assaulted and raped a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus in south Delhi on 16 December, 2012. The victim had died in a Singapore hospital on 29 December, 2012.
Mukesh, Vinay, Pawan and Akshay were awarded death penalty by trial court in the gang rape and murder case which was later confirmed by Delhi High Court. Their appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.
Accused Ram Singh had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail on March 11, 2013, and proceedings against him were abated following his death.
The parents of the girl, Asha Devi and Badri Singh Pandey had demanded that juvenile convict, allegedly the most brutal of the six offenders should not be released, citing he was a threat to the city.
Here’s a timeline of the incident that shook India.
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