Amid delay in hanging of Nirbhaya rape convicts, Delhi court to hold special hearing today

On February 1, the court had heard the petition filed by the central government and Tihar Jail authorities challenging the trial court`s order which had stayed the execution of Nirbhaya convicts.

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will on Sunday (February 2) hold a special hearing as it issued a notice to Tihar jail authorities and the Nirbhaya convicts and sought their response on a plea moved by the Centre challenging the stay on their execution.  

On February 1, the court had heard the petition filed by the central government and Tihar Jail authorities challenging the trial court`s order which had stayed the execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

"The four convicts by filing their respective review petition or curative petition or mercy petitions, one after the other and that too at such a belated stage, that is after the issuance of the death warrants, are in fact being permitted to play with the majesty of law leading to unnecessarily prolonging the execution and thereby taking the judicial process for a ride," the plea said.

It said that the convicts have deliberately chosen to file their review, curative and mercy petitions beyond the statutory period available to them with the sole objective to delay the execution of the death warrant.

On February 1, barely 12 hours ahead of the much-anticipated execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case, the court directed the Tihar jail authorities to not execute the death warrants issued against the convicts. The execution of the four convicts was scheduled for 6 am at Tihar Jail no. 3. The Tihar Jail authorities had also brought Pawan Jallad, a third-generation hangman from Meerut to carry out the execution. On January 31, the jail authorities also performed a dummy execution of the four men ahead of the actual hanging. 

The case pertains to the gangrape and brutal murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people, including a juvenile, in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later while being treated for the several internal injuries.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh committed suicide in the Tihar Jail during the trial of the case while another convict, who was declared a juvenile at the time of the occurrence of the crime, was awarded a three-year term at a probation home.