Authorities were sleeping after SC confirmed death sentence, says HC
TNN | Feb 5, 2020, 04.54 AM IST
New Delhi: Critical of the delay in the Nirbhaya case, Delhi high court on Wednesday said “authorities concerned were sleeping” after the Supreme Court confirmed death sentence of the four convicts in May 2017.
“I have no hesitation in saying that after dismissal of the special leave petition (SLP) by the Supreme Court in May 2017, nobody took steps for issuance of death warrants for their execution,” Justice Suresh Kait observed.
Listing how each of the convicts adopted “delay tactics” the high court noted that Mukesh Singh filed a review against the apex court’s dismissal of his appeal after a lapse of 186 days, while Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta moved a similar plea after a lapse of 225 days. Fourth accused Akshay Thakur took the most time, seeking review plea after a delay of 950 days.
It said even after the reviews were dismissed by SC the state’s authorities “waited for reasons best known to them” till December 2019, to approach trial court and seek a black warrant.
The Delhi government had moved the court for death warrants nearly two years after SC had dismissed the appeals against confirmation of death penalty. Before the government and Tihar Jail administration acted, Nirbhaya’s family moved the trial court in February 2019, seeking a date of hanging to be fixed. The high court also pointed out that Singh and Sharma filed curative plea after a gap of 550 and 549 days, respectively, from the date of dismissal of their review pleas.
On Wednesday, high court also plugged a loophole in Delhi jail rules, making it clear that Tihar and other jail authorities in the capital can now move to execute death warrants as soon as a death row convict loses the criminal appeal before the apex court, instead of waiting till review or mercy plea is filed.
Removing the confusion created by 2018 revised Delhi Prison Rules that led to crippling delay, the court interpreted these to hold that the bar on separate hangings exists only till the time appeals in Supreme Court are pending.
TNN | Feb 5, 2020, 04.54 AM IST
New Delhi: Critical of the delay in the Nirbhaya case, Delhi high court on Wednesday said “authorities concerned were sleeping” after the Supreme Court confirmed death sentence of the four convicts in May 2017.
“I have no hesitation in saying that after dismissal of the special leave petition (SLP) by the Supreme Court in May 2017, nobody took steps for issuance of death warrants for their execution,” Justice Suresh Kait observed.
Listing how each of the convicts adopted “delay tactics” the high court noted that Mukesh Singh filed a review against the apex court’s dismissal of his appeal after a lapse of 186 days, while Vinay Sharma and Pawan Gupta moved a similar plea after a lapse of 225 days. Fourth accused Akshay Thakur took the most time, seeking review plea after a delay of 950 days.
It said even after the reviews were dismissed by SC the state’s authorities “waited for reasons best known to them” till December 2019, to approach trial court and seek a black warrant.
The Delhi government had moved the court for death warrants nearly two years after SC had dismissed the appeals against confirmation of death penalty. Before the government and Tihar Jail administration acted, Nirbhaya’s family moved the trial court in February 2019, seeking a date of hanging to be fixed. The high court also pointed out that Singh and Sharma filed curative plea after a gap of 550 and 549 days, respectively, from the date of dismissal of their review pleas.
On Wednesday, high court also plugged a loophole in Delhi jail rules, making it clear that Tihar and other jail authorities in the capital can now move to execute death warrants as soon as a death row convict loses the criminal appeal before the apex court, instead of waiting till review or mercy plea is filed.
Removing the confusion created by 2018 revised Delhi Prison Rules that led to crippling delay, the court interpreted these to hold that the bar on separate hangings exists only till the time appeals in Supreme Court are pending.
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