New Delhi: The Delhi’s Patiala House Court will on Monday (February 17) hear a plea seeking the issuance of a new death warrant against the four convicts in connection with the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case. In the last hearing, the Tihar Jail authorities had said that Pawan, one of the four convicts, had informed that he does not need a lawyer. Earlier, lawyers of the victim’s parenrs had objected to adjourning the matter for February 17, and asked for hearing the matter on February 15.
The Patiala House Court observed that Article 21 of the Constitution protects the life and liberty of the convicts till the last breath of life.
Nirbhaya’s parents and the Delhi government had moved the court on February 11 seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh date for the execution of these convicts.
During the last hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta was asked that when the chart reveals that three mercy petitions have been dismissed and that convict Pawan Gupta has not filed the mercy petition yet, why was a fresh death warrant being sought.
Earlier, a Delhi court adjourned the hearing as a petition challenging the rejection of the mercy plea of convict Vinay Kumar Sharma is pending before the Supreme Court.
On February 13, the Supreme Court reserved the order on the issue of rejection of mercy petition of convict Vinay Kumar SharmaThe date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order. The trial court later, on January 31 stayed, “till further orders” the execution of the four convicts in the case, who are lodged in Tihar Jail.
The four convicts on death row are Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay Thakur.
Bureau Report
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