Nirbhaya convicts will not be hanged tomorrow; execution postponed
A Delhi court on Monday postponed the execution of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case until further orders. The development comes after one of the convicts, Pawan Gupta (25), filed a last-minute mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind earlier on Monday. The four convicts were scheduled to be hanged on Tuesday. Here are more details.
Court deferred execution due to Pawan's mercy plea
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana of Patiala House Courts deferred the execution of the four convicts given the pendency of Pawan's mercy petition before the President. Reportedly, the President rejected Pawan's mercy petition. However, as per Rule 836 of Delhi Prison Rules, the death warrant cannot be executed for 14 days after the rejection of the mercy petition.
Earlier today, SC rejected Pawan's curative plea; convict appealed mercy
Earlier on Monday, the Supreme Court had dismissed the curative petition filed by Pawan. With this, all four convicts exhausted their curative pleas. Separately, Pawan and another convict, Akshay Kumar (31), had filed a plea before the Delhi court, seeking a stay on their execution. The plea had argued the pendency of Pawan's curative plea and Akshay's second mercy plea.
Pawan's last-minute mercy plea impacted Delhi court's order
The Delhi court had then pronounced the order that there was no stay on the execution, dismissing the pleas of convicts Pawan and Akshay. Subsequently, Pawan filed a mercy petition before the President. The judge then agreed to consider the matter again at 2 pm. The judge also rapped Pawan and his lawyer, AP Singh, for filing a mercy plea this late.
During hearing, Judge Rana reprimanded Pawan, AP Singh
Judge Rana reprimanded Pawan for filing petitions this late, despite a February 5 Delhi High Court order directing the convicts to exhaust all legal remedies within a week. The judge told Pawan, "You as a death row convict are looking to disrespect HC order. Under what law should I come to your rescue?" He also told Singh that he was "playing with fire."
Our entire system supports criminals, says rape victim's mother
Meanwhile, reacting to the court's order, the victim's mother, Asha Devi, said, "Why is the court taking so much time to execute its own order to hang the convicts? Repeated postponing of the execution shows the failure of our system. Our entire system supports criminals."
Nirbhaya convicts' execution deferred third time
The four convicts—Pawan, Akshay, Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26)—were scheduled to be hanged on March 3 at 6 am. They were initially supposed to be executed on January 22, however, the date was deferred to February 1, which too was postponed. The execution was deferred since the convicts had filed mercy and curative petitions, which the Centre claimed were "delay tactics."
What is the Nirbhaya rape case?
The four convicts, and two others, raped a 23-year-old student (dubbed "Nirbhaya") on a moving bus on December 16, 2012. The convicts penetrated her with iron rods, inflicting grave injuries, and the victim died two weeks later during treatment. The fifth accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in prison in 2013. The sixth accused—a juvenile—was sent to a reformation home and was later released.
