New Delhi: Delhi Court has issued a fresh death warrant against the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. As per the new warrant, the four death-row convicts are to be hanged at 5.30 am on March 20, 2020. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana fixed March 20 as the new date of execution after it was told by the Delhi government that the convicts have exhausted all their legal remedies.


The lawyer for the four death row convicts also told the court that there was no legal impediment for the court in proceeding to fix the date of execution.

The victim’s mother Asha Devi said, “Since the four convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies, I hope that they will be hanged till death on the designated date.”

Their hanging was deferred thrice earlier as the convicts had not exhausted all legal remedies.


The fresh warrant comes after the mercy petition of Pawan Kumar Gupta, one of the four men facing the gallows was rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday.

Pawan was the last convict to file a mercy petition with the President. President Ram Nath Kovind had on February 5 rejected the mercy petition of convict Akshay Singh Thakur. So far, mercy petitions of Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh have also been rejected.

The rejection of Pawan’s petition came after a Delhi court had stayed for the third time the death sentence of four convicts in the case, observing that they cannot be executed while a mercy petition is pending before the President.

So far, three death warrants have been issued and stayed in the matter.

(with inputs from agencies)