Nirbhaya case: Delhi Court to hear convicts plea for stay on execution

New Delhi: In Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, Patiala House Court on Friday (January 31) will hear the plea of death row convicts seeking a stay on the date of the execution on Saturday (February 1). 

Moving the plea in the Delhi court, advocate AP Singh, who is representing convicts Akshay Thakur and Vinay Sharma, submitted, "According to the Delhi Prison Rules, none of those convicted can be hanged until all of them have exhausted all legal options including the mercy petition." 

In response to the petition filed by Singh, public prosecutor Irfan Ahmad told the court on Thursday that this is "clearly a mockery of justice", adding "Convicts` lawyers are taking too much time to use their legal remedies." 

Additional Sessions Judge AK Jain will hear the matter today at 2 pm. 

On Thursday, the court issued a notice to the Tihar jail authorities seeking its response on a petition filed by the convicts and asked the prison officials to submit a status report before 10 am today. 

The four convicts in the matter -- Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Kumar Sharma -- are scheduled to be hanged on February 1. On Thursday, the Supreme Court dismissed convict Thakur`s curative petition, which sought commutation of the convict`s death sentence to life imprisonment.

Recently, Vinay Kumar Sharma has filed a mercy petition in the matter, while Mukesh Kumar too had filed a mercy petition, which was rejected by the President. He later challenged the rejection of his mercy petition in the Supreme Court but failed to get any respite. Pawan Gupta is yet to file a curative petition in the top court.

Meanwhile, reports say that Pawan Jallad, a hangman from Meerut Prison, has reached Tihar Jail two days ahead of the scheduled execution.

According to Delhi Prison Rules, none of the four convicts in the same case can be hanged before the last one has exhausted all legal options including the mercy plea.

The apex court guidelines also stipulate that convicts cannot be hanged until 14 days after their mercy plea has been rejected by the President.

Earlier on January 17, the trial court had issued black warrants for the second time for execution of all the four convicts -- Mukesh (32), Pawan (25), Vinay (26) and Akshay (31) -- in Tihar jail at 6 am on February 1. The court had earlier on January 7 fixed January 22 as the hanging date.

On the night of December 16, 2012, six people including a juvenile had gang-raped and brutalised a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

One of the five adults accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail.