Delhi gangrape case: 'Helpless' SC rejects plea for stay on juvenile convict's release

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) challenging the release of the juvenile convict in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, according to reports. While delivering the order, the top court put the onus on the Parliament and said that legislative sanctions are necessary for such directives. The Supreme Court expressed helplessness before axing the plea to release the youngest convict in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case. According to ANI, Supreme Court told the Centre that they have not framed the law but “are supporting the DCW’s petition.”

“If anything has to be done, it has to be done according to the law. We have to enforce the law,” a vacation bench comprising justices AK Goel and UU Lalit said while refusing to entertain the plea of Maliwal filed in her official capacity as Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) Chief. The bench did not agree with the submission that the juvenile offender can be subjected to the reformation process for a further period of two years under the juvenile law. “Will we not taking away somebody’s right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. There is nothing in the law to provide that,” the bench said when the counsel for DCW cited provisions to drive home the point that the delinquent juvenile can be allowed to go through the further reformation process. At the outset, the counsel for DCW assailed the order of the Delhi High Court order saying that it did not consider the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act. He said that the juvenile, who is in conflict with the law, has to undergo the reformation process and there is an Intelligence Bureau report which indicates to the contrary and that the juvenile has been rather radicalised further. Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for the Centre, supported the DCW’s submissions saying that the juvenile can be kept under observation till such time the reformation process is on. “You are supporting them without making the law,” the bench said, adding, “There must be some legislative sanction behind it. In no case it can get extended.” “We share your concern, but cannot do anything without legislative sanction,” the bench further said, adding that the period cannot be extended beyond three years. The first reaction after the Supreme Court rejected the plea was that of mother of Jyoti Singh, the gangrape victim.

The convict, now 20, was released on Sunday despite protests lead by the victim’s parents, and is currently in the custody of an NGO in Delhi. Addressing the media after the SC order, DCW chief Swati Maliwal said, “The Rajya Sabha has betrayed the nation…Supreme Court said it shares out concerns but the law is very weak…The entire government has failed the women of this country.” The vacation bench began hearing the DCW’s plea at around 10.30 am, reports IBNLive. The Special Leave Petition filed by DCW was against the order of the Delhi High Court refusing to restrain the release of the convict, was referred by Chief Justice of India TS Thakur to the vacation bench. [caption id=“attachment_2553638” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of the juvenile convict. Reuters[/caption] Appealing against the High Court order, the DCW had contended that no assessment of the state of mind of the juvenile offender had been done before his release. The SLP had also stated that though the High Court was of the view that there was a need for mental assessment of the convict, there was no direction that before his release the authorities should go for a health and mental check up of the offender. The convict was released after the Supreme Court in a post-midnight order declined to stay the release of the juvenile offender in response to a Special Leave Petition filed by the the Delhi Commission for Women. “How many more rapes, how many more murders will have to take place for the government to change laws related to juveniles? I want (Prime Minister Narendra) Modiji to consider giving us two minutes (for a meeting),” said Asha Devi, mother of the victim. Angry at the police for detaining the protesters at India Gate, she said, “The youth who should have been put behind bars has been allowed to walk out free. And we who have suffered a lot, are being chased by police. We are heart broken.” “We are helpless as far as the release is concerned. Our government, whether Centre or state, they only listen to you when you protest and get lathicharged, else they don’t care,” said the victim’s father Badri Singh Pandey. Asha Devi, the victim’s mother said, “All knew that he will be released, so adequate steps should have been taken in the past three years.” The convict, along with five others, had gangraped and murdered the 23-year-old physiotherapy student in a moving bus on 16 December 2012, an incident that shook the nation and led to widespread protests. He was sentenced to three years in a reform home ‘Place of Safety’ in north Delhi’s Magazine Road by Juvenile Justice Board, a punishment which drew criticism from several people who claimed it was inadequate and disproportionate to the gruesomeness of the crime he had committed. There were also demands that he be tried in an adult court. The Juvenile Justice Act provides for a maximum sentence of three years in a correctional facility. With agency inputs