The Tihar Jail authorities will now seek a new date for the execution of four convicts in the Nirbhaya case with President Ram Nath Kovind rejecting the mercy plea of convict Pawan Gupta on Wednesday. The date of execution has been stayed twice with further legal measures adopted by the convicts one after the other.
Hanging of Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta was earlier scheduled on March 3 but was stayed as Pawan Gupta had moved the mercy petition before the President of India on the day before. According to the law, there must be a minimum 14 days between rejection of the mercy petition and the hanging.
The Supreme Court had on Monday dismissed his curative petition thus leaving no other legal options open for him. The three other death-row convicts in the case have already exhausted their legal options and their mercy pleas have been rejected too.
Six persons were arrested and charged with rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in 2012, which came to be known as the Nirbhaya case. One of the accused was a minor and was tried in the juvenile justice court. He was released after three years. Another accused – Ram Singh – had allegedly committed suicide in Tihar Jail.
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