Nirbhaya gang-rape case: 15 conclusions arrived at by SC while upholding death penalty

New Delhi: Following is the summary of 15 conclusions arrived at by the Supreme Court on Friday while upholding the death penalty awarded to the four convicts of the December 16, 2012 gangrape and murder case:

* The evidence of PW-1 (victim's male friend who was taken into the bus along with her and was present when the crime was committed) is unimpeachable and it deserves to be relied upon.

* The accused persons along with the juvenile in conflict with law were present in the bus when the prosecutrix and her friend got into the bus.

* There is no reason or justification to disregard the CCTV footage, for the same has been duly proved and it clearly establishes the description and movement of the bus.

* The arrest of the accused persons from various places at different times has been clearly proven by the prosecution.

* The personal search, recoveries and the disclosure leading to recovery are in consonance with law and the assail of the same on the counts of custodial confession made under torture and other pleas are highly specious pleas and they do not remotely create a dent in the said aspects.

* The contention raised by the accused persons that the recoveries on the basis of disclosure were a gross manipulation by the investigating agency and deserve to be thrown overboard does not merit acceptance.

* The relationship between the parties having been clearly established, their arrest gains more credibility and the involvement of each accused gains credence.

* The dying declarations, three in number, do withstand close scrutiny and they are consistent with each other.

* The stand that the deceased could not have given any dying declaration because of her health condition has to be repelled because the witnesses who have stated about the dying declarations have stood embedded to their version and nothing has been brought on record to discredit the same.

That apart, the dying declaration by gestures has been proved beyond reasonable doubt.

* There is no justification in any manner whatsoever to think that PW-1 and the deceased would falsely implicate the accused-appellants and leave the real culprits.

* The dying declarations made by the deceased have received corroboration from the oral and documentary evidence and also enormously from the medical evidence.

* The DNA profiling, which has been done after taking due care for quality, proves to the hilt the presence of the accused persons in the bus and their involvement in the crime. The submission that certain samples were later on taken from the accused and planted on the deceased to prove the DNA aspect is noted only to be rejected because it has no legs to stand upon.

* The argument that the transfusion of blood has the potentiality to give rise to two categories of DNA or two DNAs is farthest from truth and there is no evidence on that score. On the contrary, the evidence in exclusivity points to the matching of the DNA of the deceased with that of the accused on many aspects.

The evidence brought on record with regard to finger prints is absolutely impeccable and the trial court and the High Court have correctly placed reliance on the same and we, in our analysis, have found that there is no reason to disbelieve the same.

* The scientific evidence relating to odontology shows how far the accused have proceeded and where the bites have been found and definitely, it is extremely impossible to accept the submission that it has been a manipulation by the investigating agency to rope in the accused persons.

* The evidence brought on record as regards criminal conspiracy stands established.