He would “rather die than be called a coward judge”, declared Muzaffarnagar Additional District and Sessions Judge Ravi Kumar Diwakar from Uttar Pradesh after pronouncing his 23rd capital punishment in the last four months.
In his latest judgment, awarding the death penalty to a man who burnt his wife over dowry demands, the fast-track judge asserted that he would not discharge his judicial duties “under pressure from mafias, gangsters or criminals”.
Shehzadi was taken to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital in a serious condition, where she later died. However, cases involving the death penalty are subject to further judicial processes and the right to appeal. With this judgment, Diwakar’s court has awarded the death penalty to 23 people in 11 cases over the past four months, the government counsel said.
In her statement recorded before her death, Shehzadi alleged that Nadeem set her on fire, the government counsel said.
