A vacation bench of the Supreme Court will hear today a petition against the release of the juvenile convict in the December 16, 2012, gang-rape case after a huge public outcry against his release after three years of the brutal crime.
The Delhi Commission for Women yesterday filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against the release of the convict who was a minor at the time of raping a medical student on a moving bus in the national capital.
Late on Sunday, CJI T S Thakur allocated the petition to a vacation bench which admitted the plea but refused an urgent hearing, according to the Times of India.
DCW said the juvenile would be a threat to society and that his life too could be in danger in his village in Uttar Pradesh, the report said.
"DCW filing Special Leave Petition in SC tonight. Will go to Judge's house, will try get hearing tonight against Nirbhaya convict's release," Swati Maliwal, the body's chief had tweeted.
The parents of the victim, whom the parents had earlier insisted people call by her name, Jyoti, were detained yesterday and later released after they held a protest in a venue at the heart of the capital.
The convict, who is now 20 years old, has been taken to an undisclosed location from a correction home in North Delhi amid concerns that there was threat to his life. Maliwal said that she was trying to move the apex court and that the registrar of the court has "called for the papers".
"Registrar of the court presently has called for the papers," she tweeted. "Will be waiting for justice outside CJI home. This is matter of not one Nirbhaya but of all Nirbhayas of the country," she added.
Maliwal also proposed using the Nirbhaya Fund for installation of CCTV cameras inside DTC buses and at all police stations of the country starting with Delhi. In a letter addressed to the Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, Maliwal said that the Commission has received many complaints from victims of sexual crimes regarding alleged inaction by police officials.
Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, also put the onus on Delhi government on the convict's rehabilitation.
"In principle, the central government opposed the release of the juvenile offender at this stage for which we have presented our position before the honourable Delhi High Court," Rijiju told PTI.
Rijiju said the Additional Solicitor General had put across the central government's view in the court in the case.
"The Additional Solicitor General, who appeared in Subramaniam Swamy's application opposing the release (of the juvenile), also shared the central agency's assessment report with the court," he said.
The Minister said the Juvenile Justice Amendment Act was passed in Lok Sabha but it could not get clearance in Rajya Sabha due to "disruption by Congress Party".
"The court directed the Juvenile Justice Board and Delhi government to chart out a plan for his rehabilitation once he is released. That means, the government of National Capital Territory of Delhi has to make provisions for his mainstreaming and rehabilitation," he said. (With PTI inputs)
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