Nirbhaya Case: Supreme Court Dismisses Convict Vinay Kumar's Petition Challenging President's Mercy Plea Rejection

The Supreme Court Friday dismissed Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case convict Vinay Sharma’s plea challenging rejection of his mercy petition by the President alleging that it was done in a “mala fide” manner. A bench of Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna said no ground of judicial review of rejection of mercy petition is made out by Sharma, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 case.

All material including Sharma’s medical report placed before President who applied his mind in rejection of mercy plea, the apex court said.

The top court rejected the contention of Sharma that he is mentally ill and said his medical report suggests he is stable.

The trial court had on January 31 stayed “till further orders” execution of the four convicts in the case—Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

Nirbhaya Case

The 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ (fearless), 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. 

The brutality of the crime shook the nation, leading to country-wide protests and a change in India’s rape laws.

Six people—Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, Ram Singh and a juvenile—were named as accused.

The trial of the five adult men began in a special fast-track court in March 2013.

The prime accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in Tihar jail days after the trial began. The juvenile, who was said to be the most brutal of the attackers, was put in a correctional home for three years.

He was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. The juvenile, when released, was 20 years old.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were convicted and sentenced to death in September 2013.

They were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail, a Delhi court had announced on January 7 while issuing their death warrants.

However, the Delhi government informed the high court during a hearing that the execution of the convicts will not take place on the designated day as a mercy plea had been filed by Mukesh.