Lawyer AP Singh, best known as lawyer of Akshay Singh and Pawan Kumar Gupta, the two of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case, is not only known for his controversial remarks on gender related crimes but is repeatedly condemned for using loopholes in the law to defer execution of death penalty.
Ajay Prakash Singh, a 46-year-old law graduate from Lucknow University, has been practicing in the Supreme Court since 1997, shot to fame, in 2012 when the Nirbhaya rape and murder case went to trial in the Saket court.
Singh, has done a doctorate in criminology, has been accused of exploiting loopholes in the system to save his clients from execution. Many Strictures have been passed against him by the Delhi High Court, while the Bar Council has issued notices over his conduct on more than one occasion.
In an interview to a news channel, he said that it was his mother who had asked him to take up the case then, as Akshay’s wife had come from a village in Bihar to meet her arrested husband in Tihar Jail and went to his house and met his mother. His mother insisted that AP Singh must fight to give her justice.
The lawyer said that he tried to explain to his mother about the consequences of taking up such a controversial case, but his mother persuaded him. He added that his parents were very simple and extremely spiritual. Since they do not watch TV, his parents did not have an idea about what was going around in the country.
Even after seven years he still does not regret his conduct.
When he was asked about the need to malign the victim’s character , he very sternly questions, he said it was a part of the evidence. He very strongly opposes the culture where a boy and girl moving with a boy so late in the night and condemns the boyfriend -girlfriend relationship. He criticized the victim’s lifestyle blaming her for the crime that resulted in her death. He had also blamed the parents for giving their daughter the freedom to move around in the night.
His comments outraged the nation and built an image of an antagonist for himself. In fact many in the courtroom, frustrated onlookers are often heard muttering, “isi ko tang dena chahiye (Even he should be hanged).” He had also challenged Mrs. Asha Devi, the victim’s mother that the execution would not happen for an indefinite period.
However, he was successful in deferring the execution of the four convicts for the fourth time on March 2, 2020.
The Court cautioned Mr. AP Singh, not to play with fire and that he should be conscious ,as one wrong move would make him meet dire consequences. But, AP Singh, is undeterred and continues to defend the Nirbhaya convicts — Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma. The fourth convict, Mukesh Kumar, has a different legal team lead by Vrinda Grover, once an amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case.
Though Mr. Singh knows that the execution of convicts in the Nirbhaya case is inevitable, but he is determined to fight on. When asked , why is he so determined to fight on , he very casually says that ,else “This will be part of academic research in future about law, about system for death row prisoners,”.
Mr. AP Singh has a college going daughter and son. Though he must be doing his job, I hope and pray that karma should not take its turn on him because a wrong deed is still a wrong deed even if someone shouts thousand times that its right. Mr. Singh are you listening!
