New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday issued notice to the Tihar Central Jail authorities on a petition that sought a stay on the execution of four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case.
The four convicts moved the application to seek a stay on their hanging scheduled for March 3 on the ground that a fresh mercy and curative petition filed by two of them is pending.
“This hon’ble court (should) stay the execution of the petitioners until determination of their mercy petition…,” the petition read.
The matter is listed for hearing at 10 a.m. on March 2. The court asked the jail authorities to submit a report on their petition.
During the hearing on Saturday, advocate AP Singh told the court that Akshay Kumar Singh had filed a fresh mercy petition as the facts in the previous one were not complete.
Another convict Pawan Gupta has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court. Out of all the convicts, he has not yet availed the remedy of filing a mercy plea.
The mercy petitions of three convicts — Mukesh Kumar Singh, Vinay Kumar Sharma and Akshay Kumar Singh — have already been rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind.
The case pertains to the gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman, dubbed later as Nirbhaya, in the national capital in December 2012
Prasanta Patnaik