New Delhi -- The juvenile convict in the December 16, 2012 gangrape case is set to walk free after the Delhi HC turned down the Centre's appeal to impose a stay order on his release.
The Centre, with the limited legal options it could avail, had appealed against the release of the convict who was a minor at the time of sentencing.
The court said that it doesn't have the directive or mandate to stay his release. According to the Juvenile Justice Act, a juvenile can't be kept in the home for more than three years - a period that comes to an end on 20 December for the convict in this particular case.
Times Now reported, that the seven page order also directs that proper measures of rehabilitation be taken and the case be monitored by authorities. This bit of the order is being read as a go-ahead for the authorities to keep a close watch on the juvenile after his release.
The court mentions in the order that the management committee set up to monitor the juvenile's reform process take stock of his progress in regular intervals post-release.
The victim's mother expressed exasperation at the order and said that it was heartbreaking that despite their best efforts, a criminal got to be free. "He has committed a terrible crime. Yet he is free. We were assured that we will get justice, but we didn't."
However, the victim's father added that if the court has taken a decision, it must be right. But he added that little girls are raped in this country and in the light of that, this order is disappointing.
He seemed to be under the impression that the juvenile will kept with 'some other agency' after his release - however, the court has specified no such thing it seems.
Subramanian Swamy, who had appealed on behalf of the government, had argued that there was a loophole in the law and questioned what if the convict was not 'reformed'.
The impending release of the convict - whose name cannot be revealed as per law - had set alarm bells across the country, turning the focus back on the relevance of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Prior to the Delhi HC's verdict, the 16 December gangrape victim's mother said that she was hoping that the Delhi HC will finally do justice to her daughter's memory. She told ANI: "If someone like him gets released, it clearly shows the helplessness of the government and the law of our country. We hope that the high court takes the decision in favour of the society because even the High Court knows the suffering of my daughter."
She emphasised that what the 'juvenile' did was not a mistake, it was a heinous crime. He didn't deserve to be freed.
BJP MP Hema Malini had recently opined that the convict should be treated at par with the adult convicts as his crime was unforgivable.
According to the previous report on the Times of India, as part of a rehabilitation plan by the Delhi government's department of women and child development (WCD), the rapist will be given a one-time financial grant of Rs 10,000 and a sewing machine so that he can set up a tailoring shop.
With inputs from PTI
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