High Court rejects convicts' plea for Hindi translation of documents

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today rejected a plea of two death row convicts in the December 16 gang rape case for Hindi translation of certain documents including the trial court's conviction and sentence orders in the case, saying they are adopting delaying tactics. A bench of justices Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani rejected the arguments of M L Sharma, counsel for convicts Pawan and Mukesh, that they do not understand English as they are illiterate and they should be supplied with Hindi translated copy of the documents. "It seems the application is only a methodology adopted to protract the hearing of the appeal.

"No efforts have been made to remove the objections raised by the Registry in their appeal (provisional) although ample time was given to them," the bench said and directed the Registry to list their appeal before it on November 1. "If you go on like this, a feeling will come to the mind of the court that you want to delay the case. Do you want that feeling to come to the court's mind?" the bench said. The bench is hearing the trial court's reference for confirming their death sentence. The court wanted to know from the counsel if there was any judgement which can substantiate his claim for translated version for the documents. It recorded the arguments of convicts' counsel that CrPC has the provision under which the accused are entitled for translated copy of the FIR, charge sheet, evidence and the trial court judgement.

"It is the court's duty to direct the prosecution to provide them the Hindi copies of such documents," Sharma said. The court also recorded the arguments of Special Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan that the trial court had supplied the translated copy of the charge sheet to the accused persons in April this year and another similar plea of the convicts was rejected by the single bench of this very court.