Controversial advocate ML Sharma, who represents Mukesh -- one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, has triggered a new controversy, accusing the state and the police of bribing two witnesses (the victim's mother and father).
During the hearing of a plea, seeking a review of the death penalty confirmed by the Supreme Court on May 5, Sharma alleged that the DDA flat in Dwarka given to victim's parents and grant of compensation of Rs 20 lakh by the chief minister were "bribes to prosecution witness from state accounts", reported Mail Today.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, immediately reacted and told Sharma: "What is this? Stop it. You can't make such statements and that too at the review stage."
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CJI added: "What are you arguing? Please make a case for review".
The CJI also asked Sharma to prove how apex court’s conclusion was wrong.
“Prove our analysis of DNA and dying declaration was wrong, investigation was perverse, etc. You are only repeating what you argued earlier."
Victim's father, Badrinath Singh, told the tabloid that Sharma’s comments were “outrageous”.
The Supreme Court adjourned the review petition till January. Mukesh, who has been sentenced to death along with three other convicts in the case, had filed the petition.
The apex court, in May, upheld the order of Delhi High Court, which had sentenced the four convicts - Akshay, Pawan, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh - to death.
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On December 16, 2012, six people gangraped a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in a moving bus in Delhi.
The woman succumbed to her injuries in a Singapore hospital on December 29, 2012.
One of the accused, Ram Singh, had hanged himself in the prison, while another person, who was a juvenile at the time of the crime, was convicted in August last year and is serving the maximum sentence of three years in a reform home.
Other controversial statements by the defence lawyer:
In 2016, Sharma had alleged that the entire incident was planned on the night of December 16, 2012, by a politician in connivance with the male companion of the victim "to score political mileage".
The lawyer had announced a Rs 10 lakh reward for anyone who can prove that the victim was violated with an iron rod.
(With agency inputs)
