The Supreme Court of India on July 9 pronounced its verdict on the review pleas of three of the four convicts against the death penalty in the 2012 ‘Nirbhaya’ gang-rape and murder case. The apex court upheld the death penalty awarded to three convicts Mukesh (29), Pawan Gupta (22) and Vinay Sharma (23). A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan delivered the judgement. In the apex court’s 2017 verdict, it upheld capital punishment awarded to the convicts in the case by the trial court and the Delhi High Court. The fourth accused did not file a review petition against the judgement by the court. It has almost been six years to the brutal incident when the 23-year-old medical student was assaulted and raped by six persons in a moving bus in South Delhi and was later thrown out with her male friend on the streets. 13 days later, on December 29, she died in a Singapore hospital.
Here is the complete timeline of the case:
December 16, 2012: Six men, including a juvenile, gang-raped the medical student in the moving bus when she was returning home after watching a movie. The accused beat up her friend and later throw out both of them from a moving bus.
December 17, 2012: The Delhi Police identify the four accused – bus driver Ram Singh, his brother Mukesh, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta.
December 18, 2012: All the four accused are arrested.
December 20, 2012: The Delhi Police records the statement of Nirbhaya’s friend.
December 21, 2012: The fifth accused also a juvenile is arrested from Anand Vihar bus terminal in Delhi. Police conduct raids in Haryana and Bihar to nab the sixth accused Akshay Thakur.
December 22, 2012: Akshay Thakur is arrested in Bihar and brought to Delhi.
December 29, 2012: The girl succumbs to her injuries at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.
January 3, 2013: Police files charge-sheet against the five adult accused on charges of murder, gang rape, attempt to murder, kidnapping, unnatural offenses, and dacoity.
February 28, 2013: The Juvenile Justice Board frames rape, murder charges against the juvenile accused.
March 11, 2013: Main accused Ram Singh commits suicide in Tihar jail.
August 31, 2013: Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) presided by Principal District Magistrate Geetanjali Goel finds the juvenile accused guilty of rape and murder of the medical student, sentences him to three years in Special Home.
September 13, 2013: Four remaining accused sentenced to death by Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna.
March 13, 2014: Delhi High Court Bench of Justices Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani upholds the trial Court verdict.
March 15, 2014: The Supreme Court stays the execution of the accused after allegations of a denial of fair trial.
December 18, 2015: The Delhi High Court refuses to stay the release of the minor-accused, who walks free after three years in a juvenile home.
April 3, 2016: Hearings begin in the Supreme Court, after 19 months of being in cold storage. Justices Dipak Misra, V. Gopala Gowda, and Kurian Joseph to hear the case.
April 8, 2016: Senior Advocates Raju Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde appointed Amicus Curiae.
May 5, 2016: The apex court upholds death penalty of four accused – Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh.
August 29, 2016: High drama in the courtroom as the allegation of the police tampering with evidence is made.
September 2, 2016: Advocate M. L. Sharma concludes his submissions.
September 16, 2016: Former Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Delhi) Chaya Sharma, who was transferred to Mizoram post the Delhi gang-rape case, attends the hearing.
November 7, 2016: Senior Advocate and Amicus Curiae Raju Ramachandran makes his submissions, argues for the sentencing order to be set aside.
November 28, 2016: Senior Advocate and Amicus Curiae Sanjay Hegde argue against the reliability of evidence in the case.
January 6, 2017: The Supreme Court seeks mitigating circumstances from the accused.
February 3, 3017: The Supreme Court decides to rehear the case on the sentencing aspect after the petitioners contend that there have been violations in the procedure.
March 6, 2017: All the accused submit additional affidavits in the court.
March 27, 2017: The Supreme Court reserves verdict after nearly a year of hearing the case.
May 5, 2017: The Supreme Court rejected the plea by four convicts, challenging their death penalty, in the December 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The apex court has decided that the convicts will be hanged till death.
November 13, 2017: The convicts appeal to the apex court to review the sentence claiming it was a cold-blooded killing in the name of justice.
May 4, 2018: The Supreme Court upholds the order on the plea of convicts seeking a review of its 2017 verdict upholding the death penalty awarded to them.
July 9, 2018: The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty awarded to three convicts Mukesh (29), Pawan Gupta (22) and Vinay Sharma (23).