The Delhi government recommended rejection of the mercy petition on Wednesday evening, and sent it to the office of the Lieutenant Governor for its recommendation.
The mercy plea was filed by Mukesh, soon after the Supreme Court had dismissed the curative petition filed by him on Tuesday.
The mercy petition was first sent to the Delhi government, which recommended a rejection within a day and forwarded it to the Lt Governor Anil Baijal’s office. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister had confirmed the rejection of the petition and said it was done with a lightning speed.
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Baijal's office has now forwarded the petition to the Home Ministry with its recommendation; the Home Ministry will now send it to the President with its own recommendation. The ultimate decision on granting mercy to the death-row convict lies with President Ram Nath Kovind.
As of now, no mercy petition lies pending with the President. Convict Vinay Sharma, who had earlier filed a mercy plea before President, later withdrew his petition.
The High Court on Wednesday refused to stay death warrant against the Mukesh. Delhi government told the court that the convicts 'cannot be hanged' on January 22 as the mercy petition filed by Singh is pending. The Delhi government and the prison authorities said that under the rules, they will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant.
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