Nirbhaya Case: Convicts Not Be Hanged On February 1, Delhi Court Postpones Execution Till Further Order

A Delhi court on Friday stayed the execution of death row convicts scheduled for February 1 in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The court decided to stay the hanging of the convicts till next order after hearing an application of three death row convicts. The trial court had issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts in the case in Tihar jail at 6 am on February 1.

"The Courts of this country cannot afford to adversely discriminate any convict, including death row convict, in pursuit of his legal remedies, by turning a Nelson's eye towards him," Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana observed during his ruling.

After the court's ruling, Nirbhaya's mother Asha Devi claimed that the lawyer of the convicts has challenged her saying that the convicts will never be executed.

"I will continue my fight. The government will have to execute the convicts," an emotional Asha Devi told media.

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Earlier, the court had reserved the order after completion of hearing of arguments of the Tihar jail authorities and the convicts' lawyer. Saying only one convict's plea is pending and the others can be hanged, Tihar Jail authorities challenged the application of three condemned prisoners in the case seeking a stay on their execution.

The convicts's lawyer disagreed with the jail authorities and said rules dictate that when one convict's plea is pending the others cannot be hanged. Advocate A P Singh, representing the convicts -- Pawan Gupta, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar -- urged the court to adjourn the executions sine die (with no appointed date for resumption).

Vinay's mercy plea before the president is pending.

The fourth person sentenced to death in the case is Mukesh Kumar, whose mercy plea was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. The appeal against the rejection was thrown out by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The trial court on January 17 issued black warrants for the second time for the execution of all the four convicts in the case in Tihar jail on February 1. Earlier, on January 7, the court had fixed January 22 as the hanging date.

The curative petitions of Vinay and Akshay have been rejected by the apex court. Pawan is the only one yet not to file a curative plea. Convicts have the option of moving a mercy petition before the president only after the apex court dismisses their curative plea.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern who came to be known as Nirbhaya (the fearless one) was gangraped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital. One of the accused killed himself while under trial. One convict was juvenile and had already served his punishment under the law.

(With PTI Inputs)