Nirbhaya Convict Mukesh Singh's Mercy Plea Rejected By Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal

The mercy plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, was rejected by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday. The development comes a day after the Arvind Kejriwal government sent a recommendation of rejection of the mercy plea to the LG. Acting on that, Baijal rejected the mercy plea, News Nation has learnt that Baijal’s recommendation has already been sent to the Union Home Ministry. Sources in the government say that the Amit Shah-led ministry will send the recommendation on mercy plea to President Ram Nath Kovind today itself.

What Delhi High Court had said

Mukesh Singh had approached a Delhi court seeking postponement of the date of his execution on the ground that his mercy petition is pending with the President of India. The court will hear the matter at 2 pm on Thursday. The Delhi High Court Wednesday declined to entertain Singh’s plea against the death warrant issued by a trial court and gave him the liberty to challenge it in sessions court.

The plea was mentioned before Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who has issued notice to the state and parents of the Nirbhaya for Thursday. The court asked the counsel for Mukesh to supply an advance copy of the plea to the prosecutor. Mukesh's counsel moved the trial court immediately after the Delhi High Court declined to entertain his plea to set aside the January 7 order issuing his death warrant and asked them to approach the lower court.

"There is nothing wrong with the trial court's order," the High Court said.

No relief from Supreme Court

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petitions filed by two Nirbhaya convicts. Two convicts – Mukesh Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma – had filed the curative pleas after a Delhi court issued death warrants against them. A curative petition is the last legal remedy available to a convict apart from mercy plea. A five-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan was hearing the curative pleas.

Nightmare of December 16

The 23-year-old paramedic student was gang raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.