The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed the conviction and death sentence awarded by the Kerala High Court to the lone accused, Muhammed Ameerul Islam, who was sentenced to the gallows in the brutal Jisha rape and murder case.
A three-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice B R Gavai and including Justices Sanjay Karol and K V Viswanathan, stayed the conviction and death sentence, after considering the appeal of Ameerul. The apex court, while passing certain directions, has fixed the matter for further hearing after twelve weeks.
"The respondent state (Kerala) shall place before this court the report(s) of all the Probation Officers relating to the appellant (Ameerul) within a period of eight weeks. The Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison & Correctional Home, Viyyur, Kerala, shall submit a report with regard to the nature of work which has been performed by the appellant while in jail and a report with regard to the conduct and behaviour of the appellant while in jail, within a period of eight weeks," the Justice Gavai-led bench said in the order.
The top court further said that the Govt Medical College, Thrissur, should constitute a suitable team for the purpose of carrying out a psychological evaluation of the appellant. It said the report of the evaluation should be submitted to the court through the standing counsel for the state of Kerala within a period of eight weeks.
Ameerul, who was convicted and sentenced to death in the brutal Jisha rape and murder case, had approached the Supreme Court recently by filing an appeal and sought that the HC order be set aside.
Ameerul, a migrant worker from Assam, in his appeal filed before the top court, claimed that his conviction and sentence in the case was based on conjectures and surmises rather than strong evidence. "The HC erred in convicting and sentencing him in the case," he said in his appeal filed before the SC.
He has further alleged that the police and investigating authorities falsely fabricated evidence against him and that there were irregularities in his arrest. The prosecution also failed to prove that he had any motive to commit the crime and the witnesses and evidence presented in the case do not inspire confidence, he said.
As per the prosecution case, the mutilated corpse of Jisha, a Dalit student at the Ernakulam Government Law College, was found in her house at Perumbavoor on the morning of April 28, 2016, prompting mass outrage. Ameerul was arrested for having committed the rape and murder after allegedly breaking into Jisha’s house in a drunken stupor the night before.
On May 20 this year, the Kerala High Court had upheld the conviction and death penalty awarded by an Ernakulam sessions court to Ameerul, who was the sole accused in the case.
The Sessions Court and later the HC found Ameerul guilty and convicted him under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 302 (Murder), 376 (Rape) and others.