Mukesh & Anr Vs State Of Nct Of Delhi & Ors (SC) 2017;

Pawan Kumar Gupta Vs State Of Nct Of Delhi (SC) 2020

PROLOGUE

Execution of the four convicts brings the curtains down on the Nirbhaya case that shook not just
India but also the world. The UN has called on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment
or put a moratorium on it, a day after four men convicted of gang-raping and murdering a
23-year-old woman were hanged in India. Seven years after the rape and murder of the young
medical student, who came to be known as 'Nirbhaya', sent shock waves across the country, the
four convicts - Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar
Singh (31) - were hanged to death on Friday at 5.30 am in New Delhi's Tihar Jail. Responding to
the hanging, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the
world organisation calls on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment or put a moratorium
on it. "​Our position has been clear, is that we call on all States to halt the use of capital
punishment or at least put a moratorium on this​," Dujarric said at the daily press briefing on
Friday. The horrific gang-rape and murder of the physiotherapy intern on December 16, 2012,
who came to be known as Nirbhaya, the fearless, had seared the nation's soul and triggered
countrywide outrage. This was the first time that four men have been hanged together in Tihar
Jail, South Asia's largest prison complex that houses more than 16,000 inmates. The executions
were carried out after the men exhausted every possible legal avenue to escape the gallows. Their
desperate attempts only postponed the inevitable by less than two months after the first date of
execution was set for January 22.

ISSUES
1. Death Penalty​: Does it actually deter rape?
2. According to the National Crimes Records Bureau data in 2018, “every fourth rape
victim in India was a minor , while more than 50% of them fell in the age category
of 18 to 30 years”. COMMENT.

ANALYSIS

1. Arguments for the accused.

2. Arguments for the state
3. Cases and authorities cited
4. Ratio decidendi
5. Obiter Dicta
6. Delay in executing the judgement
7. Counter petitions filed by the accused to stop execution.
8. The final hanging
9. International outcry over death sentence
10. The impact of Nirbhaya judgement over criminal laws in India - ​Criminal Law
Amendment Act, 2013 and Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
11. Explore the procedure for execution of a death sentence in India.