Nirbhaya Case: ‘Execution Of Convicts Not On Jan 22 As Mercy Plea Filed,’ Delhi Govt Tells HC

Under prison rules, we have to wait for convict's mercy plea to be decided for executing death warrant, Delhi government told the court.

Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case: The execution of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will not take place on January 22, as mercy plea by one of the convicts Mukesh Singh has been filed,  Delhi government told the High Court on Wednesday. The High Court bench comprising of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal was hearing the plea filed by Mukesh which seeks setting aside of the January 7 order issuing warrant of his execution.

The plea also states that on Tuesday he also moved mercy petitions before the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the President of India.

Under prison rules, we have to wait for convict's mercy plea to be decided for executing death warrant, Delhi government told the court.

Mukesh Singh informed the Delhi High Court that his mercy petition is pending before the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the President of India and he should be given a minimum 14 days notice between the rejection of his mercy petition and scheduled date of execution.

Singh filed a mercy plea before the President on Tuesday, prison officials said, shortly after the Supreme Court refused to stay his scheduled execution.



The Supreme Court has already dismissed curative petitions of the two death row convicts, including Mukesh Singh, in the 2012 gang-rape case.

Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh had moved the curative petitions in the top court after a Delhi court issued death warrants in their names for their hanging on January 22.

Besides them, two other convicts named Pawan and Akshay are also slated to be executed on the same day at 7 am in Delhi's Tihar Jail premises.

They were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012.

The victim, who was later given the name Nirbhaya, had succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.

(additional inputs from agencies)