Indian Home Ministry Appeals to Apex Court Seeking ‘Victim Friendly’ Legal Amendments

New Delhi (Sputnik): Indian Home Ministry’s plea to the Supreme Court comes on the backdrop of the Delhi High Court delaying the death sentence of four convicts in the Nirbhaya Gang Rape case, from 22 January to 1 February in keeping with current prison rules.

India’s Ministry of Home Affairs approached the Supreme Court on Wednesday urging it to modify the “convict-centric” guidelines in Indian law and make them “victim-centric”. The ministry has stated it would help to reinforce public faith in the rule of law.
The Central government has also asked the court to set a time limit for death row convicts to file curative petitions after filing a review plea in the top court.

​Reportedly, in the infamous 2012 Nirbhaya Gang Rape case all four surviving convicts – Akshay, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh – have been taking refuge in legal remedies to delay the death sentences passed against them.

While two of them — Vinay and Mukesh have already exhausted their curative petitions (last option to seek a review of a final judgement by the Supreme Court), the latter filed a mercy petition with President Ram Nath Kovind the same day, which was rejected.

The Delhi Government has stated that the prison rules mandate a 14-day buffer period between the day a mercy petition is rejected and the scheduled execution.

The case pertains to the brutal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman and involved six men in a crime committed in a moving bus on 16 December 2012. It triggered nationwide outrage against the crime and led to demands for women’s safety.
The State arrested six men of which, the prime accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide in prison, and another one who was a juvenile when the crime was committed, was sent to a reform facility for three years and is now free. Four suspects were left to face the trial.

Sourse: sputniknews.com