Chhawla case: Supreme Court upholds acquittal, rejects review plea

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The Supreme Court has dismissed a clutch of review petitions against the acquittal of three men in the 2012 Chhawla gang rape and murder case, noting that another alleged killing by one of them after his release last November is not legal grounds for reconsidering the verdict.

The bench, which also included justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, also rejected a plea by the Delhi Police and the victim’s father to hear the case in open court instead of deciding it in judges’ chamber through circulation. (ANI)
The bench, which also included justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, also rejected a plea by the Delhi Police and the victim’s father to hear the case in open court instead of deciding it in judges’ chamber through circulation. (ANI)

“Even if an event, which has no nexus to the instant case had taken place subsequent to the pronouncement of the judgment that would not be a ground to entertain the review petitions… After having considered the judgment and other documents on record, we do not find any error either factual or legal, apparent on the face of record requiring review of the afore-stated judgment passed by this court,” said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud.

The review petitions were considered by the top court on March 2, but the order was released on Tuesday.

The bench, which also included justices S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi, also rejected a plea by the Delhi Police and the victim’s father to hear the case in open court instead of deciding it in judges’ chamber through circulation. Review petitions are usually decided in judges’ chambers, without verbal arguments.

Also Read: 25 years on, SC sets death row convict free as he was minor at time of crime

The other petitions dismissed by the court included those filed by anti-rape activist Yogita Bhayana and NGOs Uttarakhand Lok Manch and Uttarakhand Bachao Movement. While rejecting these petitions, the bench held that such an application at the instance of a person who was not a party to the criminal proceedings is not maintainable in a criminal appeal.

“Moreover, the court has dismissed the review petition filed by the state of Delhi by recording that there was no error apparent on the face of record requiring the review of the judgment in the appeals. The application seeking permission to file review petition is rejected,” it added.

A three-judge bench, led by then CJI Uday U Lalit, had on November 7, 2022, acquitted the three men after noting that the prosecution failed in proving their guilt through “cogent and clinching evidence”.

The three accused – Rahul, Ravi Kumar and Vinod – were directed to be let off if not wanted for any other crime. One of them, Vinod, 35, was arrested on February 5 by the Delhi Police for allegedly murdering an auto-rickshaw driver on January 26 during a robbery attempt.

Two days later, the Delhi Police approached the Supreme Court seeking expedited hearing of its review petition, stressing on the fact that the latest incident was enough indication of how a hardened criminal has abused the benevolence of the Supreme Court and thus, the order of acquittal required an imminent re-look.

On February 8, CJI Chandrachud agreed to constitute a three-judge bench and consider the review petitions after solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Delhi Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), requested a quick hearing.

The incident took place on February 9, 2012 when the victim, who worked in Gurugram’s Cyber City and belonged to Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal, was abducted close to her home in Chhawla in southwest Delhi. Four days later her body was found in an open field in Rewari district in Haryana with multiple injuries and burn marks. Her autopsy revealed she was attacked with car tools, glass bottles, and sharp metal objects.

The three men were sentenced to death by a Delhi fast-track court and the Delhi high court affirmed this order in August 2018. The high court held: “It would be a crime against society to allow those who are so inveterately depraved the freedom to wander, in fact their fellows, prey upon society, and to multiply their kind.”

However, the top court acquitted the three men, finding major chinks in the investigation and trial conducted in the case, saying: “It may be true that if the accused involved in the heinous crime go unpunished or are acquitted, a kind of agony and frustration may be caused to the society in general and to the family of the victim in particular. However, the law does not permit the courts to punish the accused on the basis of moral conviction or on suspicion alone.”

The Delhi Police filed its review petition in last December, claiming that the evidence in the case “sufficiently” established the guilt of the accused and that the circumstantial evidence left no ground for reasonable doubt.

“The court failed to appreciate the medical and scientific evidence on record which prima facie is sufficient to prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt,” said the review plea, in its attempt to tide over the November verdict that raised serious doubts over the investigation and prosecution of the case.

The Delhi Police’s petition had closely followed separate review pleas moved by the victim’s father and Bhayana, contending the judgment suffered from “apparent errors” and would lead to injustice.

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