Priyadarshini Mattoo murder case: Supreme Court reserves judgment

The Supreme Court today reserved its judgement on the plea of Santosh Kumar Singh challenging the verdict of the Delhi high court convicting and awarding the death sentence to him for the rape and murder of Delhi University student Priyadarshini Mattoo over 14 years ago.A bench comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad, after hearing the arguments advanced by advocates appearing for Singh and the CBI, reserved its verdict.Singh, son of a former senior IPS officer, was acquitted by the trial court on December 3, 1999 but the Delhi high court had on October 27, 2006, reversed that decision by holding him guilty for the offence of rape and murder.The CBI has sought upholding of the death sentence saying that the high court had correctly appreciated the evidence leading to his conviction.Singh, currently lodged in the Tihar jail, has contended the "the acquittal by the trial court was correct and proper".Senior advocate Sushil Kumar, appearing for 40-year-old Singh, contended that the high court conviction was not based on the proper appreciation of the evidence on record.Mattoo, a 23-year-old law student, was found murdered at her south Delhi residence on January 23, 1996.Justices RS Sodhi (since retired) and PK Bhasin of the high court, while setting aside the lower court's verdict, had termed it as "perverse" and sentenced Singh to death, saying "he deserved nothing less".Singh's acquittal by the additional sessions Judge GP Thareja on December 3, 1999, had sparked an outrage as the judge had said that he knew the accused had committed the crime but gave him the benefit of doubt because of the lack of evidence.