All the four death-row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case will be hanged on March 3 at 6 am. A local Delhi court on Monday issued death warrants for the third time for the hanging of the convicts.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana of Patiala High Court passed the order on a plea moved by Tihar Jail Authorities for fresh death warrants saying that no legal proceeding by any convict is pending before any court.
Earlier, they were slated to be executed on January 22 which was postponed to February 1, however, a Delhi court on January 31, indefinitely suspended the execution of the convicts, noting that all the convicts had not exhausted their legal remedies.
On February 5, the Delhi High Court affirmed the stay order on execution issued by the trial court, but at the same time, it directed the convicts to exhaust their legal remedies within one week.
Public Prosecutor submitted that the Delhi High Court in its order passed on February 5 allowed the convicts to avail their legal remedies within one week from the date of the order, failing which, the law was required to take its own course.
Following the order, only Vinay Sharma, no one excepted convict Vinay Shamra opted to avail any legal remedy. Sharma moved the apex court challenging the rejection of his mercy petition. It was informed to the court that even the review petition was dismissed by the court.
Advocate AP Singh appearing on behalf of convict Akshay Kumar and Sharma, submitted that Vinay is suffering from acute mental illness and therefore the execution of death sentence should not be carried out against him.
The court, however, relying upon the medical status report, rejected Sharma’s claim.
Senior lawyer Vrinda Grover moved a separate application seeking discharge from the matter as Mukesh’s mother approached the court asking for a different legal aid counsel.
The court after discharging Grover of her responsibilities, appointed Legal Aid Counsel Ravi Qazi, who has already been representing Pawan Gupta, to represent Mukesh also.
Qazi appearing for Gupta, informed the court that the latter wants to move a curative petition before the apex court and a mercy petition before the President.
A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as ”Nirbhaya”, was gang-raped 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.
Six people, including the four convicts, 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.
Ram Singh, the prime accused, 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.
The juvenile was released in 2015 and sent to an undisclosed location amid concerns over a threat to his life. He, when released, was 20 years old.
The trial of the four adults began in a special fast-track court in March 2013 and they were sentenced to death in September 2013 by the trial court.