Another Nirbhaya convict moves apex court for relief
TNN | Feb 29, 2020, 04.59 AM IST
TNN | Feb 29, 2020, 04.59 AM IST
NEW DELHI: Less than five days before the scheduled hanging of the Nirbhaya convicts, Pawan Gupta, the sole death-row inmate yet to exhaust all legal remedies, filed a curative plea in the Supreme Court on Friday seeking commutation of his capital punishment to a life imprisonment.
Gupta, against whom a fresh death warrant has already been issued for his execution along with the three other convicts, filed the curative plea through lawyer A P Singh seeking setting aside of the apex court’s earlier verdicts on the appeals and review petitions in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. After the curative plea, he is entitled to file a mercy plea to the President though the Delhi high court-fixed deadline to avail these options has expired on February 11.
In the past two months, the Supreme Court and subsequently the President of India have rejected the curative and mercy petitions of the three other convicts — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.
The trial court on February 17 fixed March 3, 6am as the fresh date and time for the execution of the death warrants after it had to be postponed twice as the convicts — after a delay of more than two years — began availing curative and mercy plea options one by one.
The prison rules lay down that in cases of multiple death-row convicts, all have to be executed together and that too after giving a convict a window of 14 days following the rejection of a mercy plea. This forced the Tihar Jail authorities, where the convicts are lodged, to approach the trial court to postpone the hanging date and give a fresh one.
In his plea, Gupta has argued that his age on the day of offence was 16 years and two months as per the records of the school last attended by him and “the age has not been determined in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act”. This information was suppressed by the state throughout the proceedings, he has alleged, seeking an immediate stay on the execution of the black warrant issued by the trial court.
“The birth certificate from the school shows that the petitioner was a juvenile on the date of the incident. Such a procedure for age determination was also present under JJ Act, 2000 and the petitioner was entitled to the appreciation of his juvenility under the earlier Act,” the plea further argued.
Two other convicts, Singh and Sharma, had challenged the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President, but both have been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Dismissing their pleas, the apex court said there was no illegality in the decision of the President. The court also rejected their contention that the President was not supplied with all relevant documents pertaining to the case and that their mercy plea was decided with a “pre-determined mind” and without any application of mind.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
Gupta, against whom a fresh death warrant has already been issued for his execution along with the three other convicts, filed the curative plea through lawyer A P Singh seeking setting aside of the apex court’s earlier verdicts on the appeals and review petitions in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. After the curative plea, he is entitled to file a mercy plea to the President though the Delhi high court-fixed deadline to avail these options has expired on February 11.
In the past two months, the Supreme Court and subsequently the President of India have rejected the curative and mercy petitions of the three other convicts — Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.
The trial court on February 17 fixed March 3, 6am as the fresh date and time for the execution of the death warrants after it had to be postponed twice as the convicts — after a delay of more than two years — began availing curative and mercy plea options one by one.
The prison rules lay down that in cases of multiple death-row convicts, all have to be executed together and that too after giving a convict a window of 14 days following the rejection of a mercy plea. This forced the Tihar Jail authorities, where the convicts are lodged, to approach the trial court to postpone the hanging date and give a fresh one.
In his plea, Gupta has argued that his age on the day of offence was 16 years and two months as per the records of the school last attended by him and “the age has not been determined in accordance with the procedures laid down under the Juvenile Justice Act”. This information was suppressed by the state throughout the proceedings, he has alleged, seeking an immediate stay on the execution of the black warrant issued by the trial court.
“The birth certificate from the school shows that the petitioner was a juvenile on the date of the incident. Such a procedure for age determination was also present under JJ Act, 2000 and the petitioner was entitled to the appreciation of his juvenility under the earlier Act,” the plea further argued.
Two other convicts, Singh and Sharma, had challenged the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President, but both have been dismissed by the Supreme Court.
Dismissing their pleas, the apex court said there was no illegality in the decision of the President. The court also rejected their contention that the President was not supplied with all relevant documents pertaining to the case and that their mercy plea was decided with a “pre-determined mind” and without any application of mind.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
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