Delhi Court Stays Execution Of Nirbhaya Case Convicts

Delhi's Patiala court has approved a plea filed by death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case convicts, seeking stay on their execution on February 1 due to which their executions have been postponed till further orders.

The verdict was delivered by Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana at Delhi's Patiala court.

The four convicts, Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Singh Thakur (31) were scheduled to be hanged at 6 am at Delhi’s Tihar Jail on Saturday, February 1.

Earlier, Advocate AP Singh, representing the convicts urged the court to adjourn the executions “sine die” (with no appointed date for resumption) as Vinay Sharma's mercy plea before the president is pending.

Stating that only one convict's plea is pending and the others can be hanged, Tihar Jail authorities challenged the application of three condemned prisoners in the case seeking a stay on their execution.

The convicts’ lawyer disagreed with the jail authorities and said rules dictate that when one convict's plea is pending, the others cannot be hanged.

The fourth convict sentenced to death in the case is Mukesh Singh, whose mercy plea was dismissed by President Ram Nath Kovind on January 17. The appeal against the rejection was thrown out by the Supreme Court.

On January 17, the trial court issued black warrants for the second time for the execution of all four convicts in the case in Tihar Jail at 6 am on February 1. Earlier, on January 7, the court had fixed January 22 as the hanging date.

The curative petitions of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Singh Thakur have been rejected by the Supreme Court. Pawan Gupta is the only one yet not to file a curative plea.

Convicts have the option of moving a mercy petition before the president only after the Supreme Court dismisses their curative plea.