Delhi's Patiala House Court on Thursday dismissed the plea of Nirbhaya convicts seeking a stay on execution. The four convicts – Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) – will be hanged at 5:30 am on Friday (March 20), Nirbhaya's lawyer Seema Kushwaha said.
SC dismisses Pawan’s curative petition
A day before the execution, a curative petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case, has been rejected by the Supreme Court on Thursday. The bench, led by Justice N V Ramana, junked the curative petition.
In his plea, Pawan Gupta had claimed that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime. The execution of all the four convicts has been deferred thrice so far due to the delays caused by the convicts who were trying to exhaust all the legal remedies available to them.
SC rejected a petition of Mukesh Singh
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition filed by one of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case, Mukesh Singh. The top court refused to entertain a plea of Mukesh Singh challenging the Delhi High Court’s order rejecting his claim that he was not in Delhi when the crime took place.
Convict Akshay challenged the rejection of the mercy petition
Nirbhaya convict Akshay has moved to the Supreme Court challenging the rejection of the mercy petition by the President Ram Nath Kovind. During the hearing, Convict Akshay's lawyer AP Singh argued: "The rejection of the mercy plea will affect a number of persons. It will affect everyone connected to Akshay." To this, the apex court stated that "You have said you filed a second mercy plea and the President rejected. What is the scope of judicial review now?" Hence, his plea was rejected by the apex court.
Nirbhaya's mother's reaction
Earlier, Asha Devi, mother of 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, stated that the court gave them so many opportunities that they have become habituated of bringing something ahead of hanging and get it postponed. She added that our Courts are now aware of their tactics and that the Nirbhaya will get justice tomorrow.
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Nirbhaya Convicts moved to International Court of Justice
Earlier on Monday, the three death row convicts – Vinay, Pawan, and Akshay – had moved to the International Court of Justice asking for an urgent hearing to prevent the execution. The convicts moved the petition through their lawyer AP Singh, calling the execution of death warrants illegal.
-PTC News
