New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the review petitions against the acquittal of three men who were previously sentenced to death for the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl in Delhi’s Chhawla area in 2012. The bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice S Ravindra Bhat, and Justice JB Pardiwala dismissed the review petitions filed by the Delhi Police and a few individuals. The court observed that there was no factual or legal error requiring a review of the judgment passed by the court.
The Delhi Police had filed a review petition stating that one of the accused named Vinod got involved in a murder case after his release from jail. However, the Supreme Court held that the subsequent event has no bearing on deciding the present case. The bench stated that even if an event that has no nexus to the instant case had taken place subsequent to the pronouncement of the judgment, it would not be a ground to entertain the review petitions.
The court also dismissed the other review petitions filed by individuals and NGOs as they were not parties to the trial proceedings. Such an application at the instance of a person who was not a party to the criminal proceedings is not maintainable in a criminal appeal. The court recorded that there was no error apparent on the face of the record requiring the review of the judgment in the appeals and dismissed the review petition filed by the State of Delhi.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court had passed an order acquitting the three men accused in the 2012 Chhawla Gang Rape Case. The three accused, Rahul, Ravi, and Vinod, were previously sentenced to death by the Delhi High Court and the trial court. The judgment pronounced by the bench of Chief Justice U. U. Lalit and Justices Ravindra Bhat and Bela M. Trivedi set aside the judgment of the Delhi High Court, which convicted the three men for rape and murder of a 19-year-old girl.
The three men were accused of abducting the girl while she was returning home from her workplace on 9th February 2012. The police later found a mutilated body of the girl near Rewari in Haryana on 14th February with multiple wounds. In the autopsy, it was found out that she was attacked, raped, and acid was poured on her eyes.
On November 7, 2022, a bench led by the then Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, Justice S Ravindra Bhat, and Justice Bela Trivedi had acquitted the convicts after noting that there were "glaring lapses" in the trial. The judgment authored by Justice Trivedi had stated that every case has to be decided by the courts strictly on merits and in accordance with the law without being influenced by any kind of outside moral pressures while pointing out several deficiencies in the evidence.
The acquittal of the accused had sparked outrage and protests across the country. The dismissal of the review petitions by the Supreme Court has now put an end to the legal proceedings in the case.
