Nirbhaya case: Delhi court dismisses plea of Mukesh; Akshay files second mercy petition to President

New Delhi: In Nirbhaya rape and murder case, a Delhi court on Tuesday (March 17) dismissed the plea of Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts, seeking quashing of his death penalty, while convicts` counsel AP Singh also approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the death sentence.

Singh approached the apex court with a second curative petition on behalf of Pawan claiming "juvenility", besides knocking on the doors of the NHRC for a stay on the executions. 

Meanwhile Akshay today filed a second mercy petition to the jail authorities addressed to the President of India, Tihar Jail official told ANI.

Earlier in the day, AP Singh also sought compensation for the minor son of another of the accused, Ram Singh, who had died while in custody during the trial. Notably, Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case.

The Delhi court today dismissed the plea of Mukesh Singh, seeking quashing of his death penalty and asked the Bar Council of India (BCI) to give appropriate sensitisation exercise to his counsel.

Expressing anguish over the "callous" manner in which the application was moved, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said an advocate should not resort to all kinds of "schemes and stratagems" to procure relief for his client in a case.

The court said that advocate M L Sharma, appearing for Singh, has not only made a false averment before the court but has also miserably failed to discharge his duties as a counsel to bring all the facts for effective dispensation of justice.

The court said, "Unfortunately, some mischievous brains have been projecting and consciously nurturing a misplaced notion that there is a premium over dishonesty and mendacity in this country. This court is of the considered opinion that authorities involved in the dispensation of justice are duty-bound to dispel such ill-founded notion. It would be axiomatic to observe that time is a very precious judicial entity and is required to be very sagaciously spent."

During the hearing, the special public prosecutor, appearing for police, opposed the plea and said it was not only frivolous and devoid of any merits, but a mischievous endeavour to stall execution of death sentence scheduled for March 20.

On Monday, another convict Mukesh also moved the Supreme Court seeking restoration of legal remedies alleging that his earlier counsel misled and forced him to sign the papers. The apex court had refused to entertain his plea.

Even though convicts have almost exhausted all the legal and constitutional remedies available, they are leaving no stone unturned for a last-minute reprieve from the finality of the death sentence, which is scheduled for 5:30 am on March 20.

On March 5, a trial court issued fresh warrants for March 20 at 5.30 am, as the date for the execution of convicts Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31).

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who is known to be 'Nirbhaya', was gang-raped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in south Delhi on December 16, 2012. Nirbhaya died after a fortnight.

Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth accused, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail days after the trial began in the case.
The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home. 

(With Agency Inputs)