Nirbhaya Case: Delhi Govt, Centre Move Supreme Court After HC Says Hang All 4 Convicts Together

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court rejected Centre's plea against the trial court's order that put off their execution on February 1 and the request to hang two of the convicts - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma - as they have exhausted all their legal options.

Justice Suresh Kumar Kait directed the convicts to exhaust within seven days all the remedies available to them. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: With an aim to put an end to frequent cancellation of death warrants, a Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the counsel of all the convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case to  exercise their legal remedies within the next seven days after which the authorities should act in accordance with the law. The court also ruled that all four convicts have to be executed together, and not separately. According to reports, Justice Suresh Kumar Kait of the Delhi High Court rejected Centre's plea against the trial court's order that put off their execution on February 1 and the request to hang two of the convicts - Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma - as they have exhausted all their legal options. As per latest update, the Central and Delhi government have moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court dismissed the plea challenging the trial court's order staying execution of convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case. The High Court, earlier in the day, faulted the authorities concerned for not taking steps for issuance of death warrant after the rejection of appeals of the accused by the Supreme Court in 2017. The Delhi government had sought warrants for execution of death sentence to the four convicts on December 18, 2019. Justice Suresh Kumar Kait directed the convicts to exhaust within seven days all the remedies available to them after which the authorities should act as per law. The High Court however said: "It cannot be disputed that the convicts have frustrated the process by using delaying tactics." ALSO WATCH | BJP, AAP Blame Each Other In RS Over Delay In Nirbhaya Case Convicts' Hanging The Centre and the Delhi government had challenged the trial court's January 31 order staying "till further orders" the execution of all the four convicts in the case -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail. The parents of the victim had urged the court to expeditiously decide the Centre's plea and were assured by the judge that the order would be passed at the earliest. Victim's mother, Asha Devi, who welcomed High Court's recent order said: " I welcome Delhi High Court's verdict. It gives all 4 convicts 1 week to resort to all legal remedies available to them. After this, the convicts should be hanged soon." The trial court had on January 7 issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts in Tihar jail at 7 AM on January 22. However, they could not be hanged due to pendency of mercy petition of one of them. On January 17, the trial court fixed February 1, 6 AM as the hanging date and time. While the mercy pleas of Mukesh and Vinay have been rejected by the President, Pawan has not yet filed it. Akshay's mercy plea was filed on February 1 and is pending. The Centre and Delhi government approached the high court on February 1, challenging the trial court's order staying the execution. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing them, had contended that it was a deliberate and calculated design of the convicts to "frustrate mandate of law" by getting their execution delayed and they were not entitled to any more time. ALSO WATCH | Nirbhaya Case: Everything Is Done As Per Law, Says Convicts' Lawyer The counsel for the convicts opposed the plea saying it was not maintainable and that the Centre was never a party in the case proceedings before the trial court and while the government was accusing the convict of delay, it has woken up only now. Nirbhaya, 23-year-old paramedic student, was raped and brutally assaulted on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six persons, before being thrown out on the road. She died on December 29, 2012 in Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital. One of the six accused in the case, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail. A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by a juvenile justice board and was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term. (With inputs from PTI)