Delhi court reserves order on Nirbhaya convicts' plea seeking stay on execution
A Delhi court on Thursday reserved its order on a petition filed by the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case, seeking a stay on their execution. Additional session Judge Dharmender Rana will pronounce the order today afternoon. During the hearing, public prosecutor Irfan Ahmad told the court that Pawan Gupta's curative has been rejected by the Supreme Court adding that the second mercy petition of Pawan and Akshay Singh Thakur has not been entertained by the President of India.
Advocate AP Singh, appearing for the convicts, apprised the court about the pending cases in different courts and sought a stay on the execution due to the impact of coronavirus spread on the functioning of courts.
Judge Dharmender Rana, during the hearing, asked advocate AP Singh under which legal provision should the death warrant be stayed.
"Show me the law which impedes the execution of the death warrant at this stage," Judge Rana said.
Ahmad, on the other hand, opposed the application saying it is not maintainable.
"All the pending application are not their (convicts) legal remedies provided by the constitution of India. He (AP Singh) can move any number of applications before various courts. But these are not the legal remedies. They have exhausted and availed all their remedies," Ahmad told the court.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petition of Pawan Gupta, another convict in the matter, who claimed juvenility at the time of the crime.
This comes as the four convicts -- Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta -- are scheduled to be hanged at 5.30 am on March 20.
The case pertains to the brutal gang-rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in the national capital. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.
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