The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the curative petitions of two of the four death-row convicts – Vinay Sharma and Mukesh – in the Nirbhaya case, saying that no case was made out.
The five judge bench, headed by Justice N.V. Ramana, while rejecting the applications for oral hearing, also observed, “the applications for stay of execution of death sentence are also rejected.”
The bench said, “no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in Rupa Ashok Hurra…”
The bench also comprised Justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.
The convicts can still approach President of India to set aside the death penalty awarded by the court. One of the convicts had already made a mercy plea before the President, but it is awaiting his decision.
A Delhi court had issued a death warrant against four convicts in the December 2012 gangrape case allowing their execution on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar Jail. The verdict came after the parents of the victim moved the court seeking to expedite the procedure to hang all the four convicted in the case.
A curative petition is the last legal resort in the court of law available for redressal of grievances in court after a review plea is dismissed or has been exhausted.
The concept of curative petition originated from a landmark judgment in Rupa Ashok Hurra V. Ashok Hurra and Anr. The concept was evolved by the apex court to prevent the miscarriage of justice and to prevent abuse of process.
On December 16, 2012, a paramedical student was gang-raped in a moving bus by six men in Delhi. The student died at a Singapore hospital where she was airlifted for treatment. One of them, the key accused, Ram Singh, had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail during the pendency of the case, while the sixth was a minor at the time of commission of the crime and was let out after serving a three-year remand in a juvenile justice home.