No mercy for Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh, President Ram Nath Kovind rejects petition

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday rejected the mercy plea filed by one of the convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape case — Mukesh Singh — clearing all roadblocks to the execution of the four convicts. 

The mercy plea was filed by Mukesh Singh recently after his curative plea was rejected by the Supreme Court. On January 15, the Delhi government recommended the Centre to reject the mercy petition filed by Mukesh Singh, one of the four men sentenced to death for the 2012 gangrape.

Here's a copy of President Kovind's rejection of petition filed by Mukesh Kumar: 

According to reports, Mukesh's mercy plea was first rejected by the Delhi government, which forwarded the same to the Lieutenant Governor recommending 'rejection'. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal accepted the recommendation of the Delhi Government and forwarded the file to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

The MHA sources later confirmed that the ministry has received mercy petition of Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case convict Mukesh Singh from Delhi government.

On Wednesday, the Delhi High Court had refused to stay death warrants after the state government said that it 'can't hang convicts on January 22'. While refusing to set aside the death warrant issued for the hanging of four Nirbhaya gangrape-murder convicts, the high court said that convict Mukesh Singh could approach the trial court, which issued the death warrant. 

The HC also said that it found nothing wrong in the death warrants issued by Delhi's Patiala House court for the hanging of four convicts. The four convicts - Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) - are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am.

The filing of the mercy plea is expected to delay the execution of the four convicts, which is scheduled to take place on January 22. According to prison rules, the execution can take place at least 14 days after the mercy plea is rejected by the President.