Parents of Nirbhaya left fuming after SC appoints top lawyers for convicts

The Supreme Court on Friday appointed senior advocates Raju Ramachandran and Sanjay Hegde to defend the convicts of the 2012 Delhi rape case.

The four convicts in the 2012 rape case from Delhi are on a death sentence. Yet their legal battle against the punishment really got a new lease of life when the SC appointed two very experienced lawyers for their hearings.Both these lawyers have a strong background in criminal law and are experts in the same field. While many media houses and activists around the country are expressing disbelief, the Bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra, V Gopala Gowda and Kurian Joseph justified their decision by saying that in such a case of high national importance and media coverage, it is very important that all the points of the case be looked into and investigated. With the experience of the previous lawyers allocated to the convicts, it was clearly not possible and hence the SC judges were in a way forced to appoint the convicts much more experienced lawyers.

While advocate Raju Ramachandran will represent convicts Mukesh and Pawan, another known lawyer Sanjay Hegde will argue for Vinay and Akshay. Incidentally, Ramachandran, who is opposed to capital punishment, had earlier represented 26/11 death convict Ajmal Kasab and Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court, on many occasions, stated that the cases in which the accused do not get a proper chance to defend himself or does not get a proper counsel, then the decision of the case discussed could be declared invalid on the outset.

The lawyers who have represented the accused till date in the lower courts and the high court, M L Sharma and AK Singh protested in whatever way they could before the Bench but were politely turned down by the judges. The previous counsel's rationing was that since they had represented the convicts since the start of the trials, they were entitled to at least finish presenting their case in court. But the Bench would have none of it and stated that no one could stop the apex court from appointing amicus curiae.

The parents of Nirbhaya were left fuming meanwhile. & quot Ab un sab ko phansi nahi milega? Hamein insaaf nahi milega? Suna ki unko bada vakil de diya gaya hain& quot ( Now won't they be hanged? Won't we get justice? Heard the accused got big lawyers) a worried Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi, flanked by her husband Badrinath Singh and son, was seen asking Delhi Police special public prosecutor and senior lawyer Siddharth Luthra after the case hearing in the apex court.

The next hearing is scheduled for after 2 months - 18^th July.

OUR TAKE

Although providing better and more experienced counsel for the accused has been a norm around the world, the experience of the counsel rarely matters when the cases are of such nature. The decision to appoint experienced lawyers to the convicts cannot be, by any means questioned, as the SC is right in saying that no one can stop them from appointing amicus curiae. But will this in any way affect the end result? Look at the other cases of Yakub Memon and Afzal Guru. Yes, the decision may delay the process but ultimately the law and more importantly the truth will have to prevail. But scheduling the next hearing to July 18^th seems a bit too late since already the case has dragged on for a long time. But this can also be explained by the appointing of new lawyers and thus the need for them to prepare their case. The court should keep in mind that justice delayed is justice denied indeed.