A Delhi court on Thursday observed that the four convicts awaiting death in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case cannot be hanged on January 22 as there should be a 14-day gap between the rejection of a death-row convict’s mercy petition and his execution. This comes a day after the Delhi government informed the Delhi High Court that the execution cannot be carried out on January 22 in view of the pending remedies. The development comes in the backdrop of Mukesh Singh, one of the convicts, filing a mercy plea a few days ago.
The Tis Hazari court, in the meantime, asked the Tihar jail authorities to file a proper report by Friday about the status of scheduled execution of convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
"I am not reviewing my order to pass a death warrant. There will be a stay on the execution of the death warrant since a mercy plea is there. Jail authorities just have to give me this report saying we will not hang them on January 22," media reported citing the Tis Hazari court judge.
The court was hearing a plea by Mukesh, seeking postponement of the date of his execution on the ground that his mercy petition is pending with the President. The lawyer appearing for Mukesh told the court that there are subsequent developments that necessitate setting aside the death warrants.
Mukesh's counsel moved the trial court immediately after the Delhi High Court declined to entertain his plea to set aside the January 7 order issuing his death warrant and asked them to approach the lower court.
The four convicts—Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh—were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.
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Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry on Thursday informed that it has received Mukesh's mercy petition from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi recommending its rejection. "The Home Ministry has received the mercy petition from the LG recommending its rejection. The petition is being examined and an appropriate decision will be taken soon," a Home Ministry official said. The ministry added that the petition will soon be forwarded to the President's house.
The Delhi government on Wednesday recommended rejection of the mercy plea filed by Mukesh, and forwarded it to the LG at "lightning speed".
The 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons before being thrown out on the road.
She died on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.