Nirbhaya gangrape case: Days ahead of hanging, Mukesh's lawyer claims he was not present at crime spot
Just three days ahead of the hanging of four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, lawyer of one of the convicts -- Mukesh, on Tuesday claimed Mukesh was not present at the crime spot on the fateful night of December 16, 2012. Mukesh's lawyer ML Sharma today approached a Delhi court, where he claimed Mukesh was arrested from Rajasthan on December 17, 2012 (a day after the incident). The lawyer has also alleged Mukesh was tortured at Delhi's Tihar Jail during his conviction.
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain Mukesh's plea seeking restoration of legal remedies alleging that his earlier counsel misled and forced him to sign the papers.
A bench comprising Justices Arun Mishra and MR Shah heard submissions of lawyer ML Sharma, appearing for Mukesh, and rejected the plea by terming it as "not maintainable" in view of the fact that both the review and the curative pleas in the case have been dismissed.
The apex court had on July 9, 2018, dismissed the review plea of Mukesh against its judgement; later, his curative and mercy pleas were rejected by the top court and President Ram Nath Kovind respectively.
On Sunday, the families of all four convicts had appealed to President Ram Nath Kovind to grant the convicts a death by euthanasia.
The four convicts in the case are to be hanged together at 5.30 am on March 20, according to an order by a Delhi court earlier this month.
As per reports, a total of 13 letters have been received by the president that have all been sent by the family members of the convicts. Two of the letters have been written by the family members of Mukesh while the families of Pawan and Vinay both sent 4 letters each. The rest of the 3 letters have been sent by the family members of Akshay.
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