A Delhi Court on Friday said that it is criminally sinful to execute the convicts when the law permits them to live while dismissing the plea seeking issuance of fresh date of execution in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
Delhi’s Patiala House Court after the conclusion of the arguments decided to dismiss the state (prosecution) plea seeking issuance of fresh date of execution.
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The Supreme Court earlier in the day posted for February 11 hearing in the Central government’s appeal seeking to separately execute the four convicts.
Delhi prison manual rules do not allow the separate execution of the convicts of the same case for which the Center sought a review of the rule.
Asha Devi, mother of the gang-rape victim said that “Today, the Court had the power and we had time. Nothing was pending, yet death warrant has not been issued. It’s injustice to us, I will see till when the Court gives time to the accused and Government supports them.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, pressed that notice to be issued to the convicts for their response on the Centre’s plea but the apex court refused to issue notice.
A bench headed by Justice R Banumathi recorded that Delhi High Court had granted one week’s time to the convicts to take steps to adopt any legal remedies, and since that time expires on February 11, it will hear the case at 2 pm on February 11.
The Centre had challenged in the apex court Delhi High Court’s order rejecting its plea for separately executing the four convicts in the case.
Delhi High Court had, on Wednesday, granted a week’s time to the four death row convicts to avail all legal remedies available to them and said that the convicts cannot be hanged separately since they were convicted for the same crime.
The High Court had passed the order while hearing petitions filed by the Centre and Tihar jail authorities challenging the Patiala House Court’s order which had stayed “till further order” the execution of the four convicts in the matter.
A Delhi court had earlier stayed till further orders the execution of the four convicts — Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta, and Vinay Sharma — which was earlier scheduled to take place on February 1.