Delhi court to hear plea to hang Nirbhaya rapists-murderers on January 7

New Delhi: The Patiala House Court on Wednesday said that it will hear the plea to hang Nirbhaya's rapists on January 7. The Delhi court directed the Tihar Jail authorities, where the convicts are currently lodged, to issue a fresh notice of one week to them asking if they want to file mercy petitions. 

The court was hearing the case after Supreme Court earlier today rejected one of the convict's (Akshay Singh Thakur) plea. A newly-constituted three-member bench headed by Justice Bhanumathi and comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna heard the case.

The bench observed that Akshay's review petition was similar to the petitions filed by the other convicts, which was dismissed by the top court in 2018. "We found no ground for review of the sentence", said the court.

Senior advocate AP Singh, representing the death-row convict, said that he will file the curative petition soon. "I will file the curative petition by today or tomorrow. As out grounds, we will give a list of seventeen rape and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases in which the death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment," he said.

Akshay had moved the top court seeking clemency on the ground that the "rising pollution" has already increased the mortality rates. He sought commutation of the death penalty awarded to him and four others.

Besides Akshay, three other convicts, Mukesh, Akshay and Pawan are facing the gallows for rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012. The girl, who was later named Nirbhaya, died of injuries a few days later.

Two more persons, including prime accused Ram Singh, were also accused of committing the crime. Singh, however, committed suicide in the Tihar jail during the trial of the case.