"Why Death Penalty When Delhi Air, Water Already Killing Us?" Nirbhaya Convict's Bizarre Review Petition

On Tuesday, December 10, Nirbhaya case convict Akshay filed his review petition in the Supreme Court, questioning why he is being given death penalty as he will anyway die soon due to bad air and water in Delhi.

The petition was filed through his lawyer AP Singh, and it suggests that given the environmental conditions in Delhi, Akshay does not deserve to get a death penalty.

“It is important to note here that air quality of Delhi-NCR and metro city is like a gas chamber. Not only this, the water of Delhi-NCR is also full of poison. This fact is proved by the Government of India report submitted in the Parliament,” News18 quoted his plea as reading.

It added: “Everyone is aware of what is happening in Delhi-NCR with regard to air and water. Life is going to be short, then why death penalty?”

It further read: “It is mentioned in our Ved, Purans, Upanishad that in the age of Satyug, people lived thousands of years. In Treta Yug, a man used to live for thousands of years…but now it is Kalyug. In this era, age of a human being is reduced much. It has now come down to 50-60 years.”

The petition mentioned that very few people live up to the age of 80-90 years.

“When a person faces the stark realities of life and passes through the adverse situation, then he is no better than a dead man,” stated Akshay’s plea.

The petition said that the rich are rarely sent to the gallows. Therefore, the judiciary has no right to give death penalty to someone if it cannot apply uniform standards.

On December 16, 2012, the convicts gang-raped and brutalised a woman in a moving bus in Delhi. The woman later succumbed to her injuries.

Akshay is the last of the four convicts to have moved a review petition in the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court dismisses Akshay review petition, he will have the option to file a mercy plea with the president of India.

The review petition of the three other convicts – Mukesh, Vinay and Pawan – was junked by the top court in 2018.

The court had held that there was no ground to reconsider its judgement as the convicts deserve no mercy for their brutal crime

Also Read: Delhi Govt Recommends Rejection Of Nirbhaya Convict’s Mercy Petition