Patiala House Court to hear plea of Nirbhaya's mother on early execution of convicts

Image courtesy: ANI

New Delhi: In the Nirbhaya rape and murder case on Tuesday (January 7), Patiala House Court will hear the plea of Nirbhaya's mother in which she had requested the court for early execution of the convicts. In the last hearing, Nirbhaya's counsel had argued that the accused should tell the court when will they file their mercy petitions before the President.

In December 2019, Nirbhaya's mother had moved the Supreme Court to oppose a review plea by one of the four men sentenced to death in the case. On December 18, the Tihar Jail authorities had issued a notice to the convicts to file their mercy petition within seven days. 

The Patiala House court had adjourned the hearing on the issuance of death warrants against the convicts till January 7, giving them a week’s time to know if the four convicts were filing mercy pleas. This had come hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the last review plea against capital punishment.

Earlier, the other three convicts had told the Tihar Jail authorities that they still have the option of filing a curative petition before filing a mercy plea. A curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a convict and it is generally considered in-chamber. 

The apex court had already rejected the review petition of Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the convicts. The other three convicts had told the Tihar Jail authorities that they still have the option of filing a curative petition before filing a mercy plea.

Meanwhile, the Patiala House Court on Monday dismissed a plea moved by the father of Pawan Gupta alleging that the lone eye witness in the case was a tutored witness. 

Nirbhaya, a paramedic student, was raped and severely assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a running bus in south Delhi by six persons and then thrown out on the road. 

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she was airlifted from Delhi for treatment as her condition had deteriorated.