New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will Wednesday pronounce order on the Centre’s plea challenging stay on execution of four convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.
Justice Suresh Kumar Kait had February 2 reserved order on the Centre’s plea after holding special hearings Saturday and Sunday.
The Centre and the Delhi government challenged the trial court’s January 31 order staying ‘till further orders’ the execution of all the four convicts in the case – Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail.
Earlier in the day, the parents of the victim urged the court to expeditiously decide the Centre’s plea and were assured by the judge that the order would be passed at the earliest.
The trial court January 7, had issued black warrants for the execution of all the four convicts in Tihar jail at 7.00am January 22. However, they could not be hanged due to pendency of mercy petition of one of them.
Later, January 17, the trial court fixed February 1, 6.00am as the hanging date and time.
The trial court again stayed the execution January 31 as the counsel for three convicts – Pawan, Vinay and Akshay – urged it to adjourn the matter ‘sine die’ saying their legal remedies were yet to be exhausted.
While the mercy pleas of Mukesh and Vinay have been rejected by President Ram Nath Kovind, one of the convicts, Pawan has not yet filed it. Akshay’s mercy plea was filed February 1 and is pending.
