SC rejects juvenility plea by Nirbhaya’s killer

New Delhi, Jan 20: The Supreme Court has rejected the plea filed by one of Nirbhaya's killers who claimed that he was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence.

The court accepted the police plea that his birth certificate suggested that he was 19 at the offence.

One of the convicts Pawan Gupta had argued that he was a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offence. He also said that the High Court had wrongly rejected his plea.

Gupta had moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking a direction to stay the execution of the death sentence against him, scheduled for February 1.

Gupta's counsel alleged that there was a big conspiracy to conceal the age of his client. The court said that this issue was decided in the review filed on July 9. This issue was heard and dismissed on the same material. Can this be repeatedly argued, the court asked.

The magistrate considered this issue and rejected it in 2013. The High Court also rejected the same, following which the Supreme Court passed similar orders. How many times will you raise this issue, the Bench also asked.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the fact that Gupta was not a juvenile was consistently accepted. The claim can be raised at any time, but not repeatedly, Mehta also told the Bench.