A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan dismissed the convicts’ petitions today.
Hours after the Supreme Court upheld death sentences of three of the four convicts in 2012 Delhi gangrape case, jail authorities kept them under “24-hour watch” to avert any untoward incident. While Vinay Sharma (23) is lodged in Tihar’s jail number 4, Mukesh (29) is lodged in jail number 8. Pawan Gupta (22) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) are in jail number 2.
Vinay, Mukesh and Pawan had filed the review petition before the Supreme Court last year. In March 2013, one of the main accused, Ram Singh, had committed suicide inside his cell. In August 2016, Vinay had tried to hang himself, but was saved by security personnel.
According to jail officials, all three convicts have a television in their cell, and they may have received information about the verdict from news channels. “As news spread in the afternoon, jail superintendents concerned talked to them about the court’s decision. They seemed to already know about it,” a jail official said.
After the court’s decision, prison authorities said the three have been put under 24-hour watch and a jail warder has been deployed to keep a tab on their activities.
Sources said the warders have been asked to make sure the convicts don’t harm themselves. They will also sleep outside the cell if the need arises.
The jail has three-layered security. Surveillance and external security is with ITBP personnel, while the Tamil Nadu Special Police is in-charge of frisking the visitors.
Officials said all four convicts work inside the jail, and are paid in return. They participate in extracurricular activities as well.