Nirbhaya case: Delhi court stays execution of convicts till further orders

A Delhi court on Friday stayed till further orders the hanging of three Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case death row convicts, that was scheduled for February 1. While staying the execution, the Delhi court observed, "The Courts of this country cannot afford to adversely discriminate any convict, including death row convict, in pursuit of his legal remedies, by turning Nelson's eye towards him."

The three convicts - Akshay Kumar Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Kumar Sharma - had moved the court seeking a stay on their hanging. The fourth convict Mukesh Kumar Singh has exhausted all his legal remedies.

Earlier, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana had reserved the order after completion of the hearing of arguments of the Tihar jail authorities and the convicts' lawyer. The court had on Thursday issued notice to jail authorities seeking their response on the plea. 

The jail authorities challenged the application of three men and argued that those have exhausted all legal remedies that can be hanged. 

Advocate AP Singh, representing the convicts urged the court to adjourn the executions "sine die" (with no appointed date for resumption). 

Vinay's mercy plea before the president is pending. The court did not agree with the Tihar jail authorities which had challenged the application of three condemned prisoners in the case seeking a stay on their execution.

Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, said that she will continue her fight till the convicted rapists are hanged. "The lawyer of the convicts, AP Singh has challenged me saying that the convicts will never be executed. I will continue my fight. The government will have to execute the convicts," said Nirbhaya's mother.

Reacting to the development, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter to say that it saddens him that criminals are escaping their fate by finding legal loopholes and that there is a dire need to amend the law so that rape convicts are hanged within six months.

मुझे दुख है की निर्भया के अपराधी कानून के दाँव पेंच ढूंढ कर फांसी को टाल रहे है। उनको फांसी तुरंत होनी चाहिए। हमे हमारे कानून में संशोधन करने की सख्त जरूरत है ताकि रेप के मामलों में फांसी 6 महीने के अंदर हो।

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 31, 2020

The convicts moved the trial court with a plea to adjourn the execution "sine die" saying they are yet to avail their remaining legal remedies even as the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petition of the third rapist.

Only one of the four convicts - Mukesh - has exhausted all his legal remedies after his plea in the Supreme Court against the rejection of the mercy plea by the President was dismissed on Wednesday.

The curative petition of Akshay Kumar Singh was rejected by the apex court while the mercy plea of Vinay Kumar Sharma is pending.

The counsel for Vinay, Akshay, and Pawan rushed to the trial court to seek a stay on the execution as Akshay is yet to file a mercy plea while the decision on Vinay's plea is pending.

The four convicts are scheduled to be hanged at 6 AM on February 1 after a Delhi court issued death warrants against them earlier this month. This was the second death warrant issued after Mukesh filed a mercy petition to the President and several pleas in various courts.

Earlier, on January 7, the court had fixed January 22 as the hanging date.

A 23-year-old psychotherapy student, dubbed by media as 'Nirbhaya', was gang-raped and brutalised on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, before being dumped on the road. She was airlifted to Singapore where she died on December 29, 2012. 

Six people, including a juvenile, were arrested for the crime. The juvenile was released after serving a three-year term at a juvenile home, one convict allegedly committed suicide in jail while four others - Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were sentenced to death.