Nirbhaya convict Pawan Gupta refuses to meet legal aid counsel in Tihar Jail

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New Delhi: In a fresh twist to the Nirbhaya case, one of the four death row convicts Pawan Gupta, whose legal remedies are still pending, refused to meet legal aid counsel Ravi Qazi in Tihar Jail.

Advocate Ravi Qazi, who was appointed by the court to represent Pawan Gupta, went to Tihar Jail on February 19 where he was informed by the jail authorities that the convict has refused to meet him.Pawan is the only convict among the four who has not yet filed the curative petition and other legal remedies available to him.

A court of Additional Sessions Judge Dharmesh Rana on February 17 issued fresh death warrants and set March 3 as the date of execution of the death penalty. Ravi Qazi, while talking with ANI said that as there was no communication in the last few days, therefore, he could not move Pawan Gupta's legal remedies.

But the cloud of suspension hangs over their execution as Pawan has still not used his legal remedies. Earlier, Pawan Gupta was represented by AP Singh. The court has directed DLSA to provide Gupta with a defence counsel.

The Patiala House Court had on Monday issued fresh death warrants against four convicts while hearing a petition by the state and Nirbhaya's parents.

The case pertains to the brutal gang-rape and killing 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.