High court hearing in Dec 16 gang rape case Oct 28

The Delhi High Court Monday posted, for Oct 28, the hearing of the trial court's reference for confirming the death sentence to four convicts in the Dec 16 gang-rape case, as a lawyer for two of the convicts sought more time to obtain necessary documents for an appeal.

Advocate M.L. Sharma, appearing for Mukesh and Pawan Gupta - two of the convicts, told a division bench of Justice Reva Khetrapal and Justice Pratibha Rani that he has also moved an application before the high court seeking Hindi translation of certain documents including the conviction and sentence orders.

The lawyer also said that he has moved an application seeking Hindi version of the FIR, charge sheet, evidence, the Sep 10 conviction judgement and Sep 13 sentence order.

He sought adjournment of the case till the time he filed formal appeals saying that "proforma appeal" has been filed but certain documents are yet to be annexed, as the documents which are in English need to be translated in Hindi.

The bench posted the matter for Oct 28, saying the court cannot hear the matter immediately as one of the judges is down with high fever.

The trial court Sep 13 awarded the death sentence to Mukesh, 26, Akshay Thakur, 28, Pawan Gupta, 19, and Vinay Sharma, 20, convicted in the case, and referred the case to the high court for confirmation of their sentence.

Awarding death penalty to the four, the court has said their "hair-rising beastly and unparalleled behaviour" definitely qualified it as one of the "rarest of rare cases" that deserved a death sentence.

The 23-year-old woman was brutally gang-raped on a moving bus by six people, including a juvenile. The accused then threw her and her male companion out of the vehicle, without clothes, to die by roadside on on the cold December night.

The woman died of grave intestinal injuries Dec 29 at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital where she was airlifted for specialised treatment.

One of the six accused was found dead in a cell in Delhi's Tihar Jail while a juvenile involved in the crime was Aug 31 sent by the Juvenile Justice Board to a reform home for three years, the maximum term under the juvenile law.