HC gives Nirbhaya convicts 7 days to exhaust legal options
Rejects Centre’s Petition To Hang Them Separately
Abhinav.Garg@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:06.02.2020
Putting a lid on delaying tactics by the Nirbhaya death row convicts, the Delhi high court on Wednesday gave them seven days to exhaust all their remaining legal remedies while asserting that all four must hang together.
The court dismissed the Centre’s plea to allow separate hanging of the four convicts, observing that no matter what stage of the case, all procedures “must be fair, just and reasonable”.
Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of one of the convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh, who had filed the plea last week. The HC order means that Pawan Gupta, the only Nirbhaya convict who hasn’t filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court or a mercy plea with the President, now has a week’s time to exercise these options. The four can be hanged only after 14 days from the rejection of the last mercy plea.
While ruling that the four must hang together, Justice Suresh Kait agreed with the central government’s argument that Delhi prison rules allow separate hanging of a convict once his mercy plea stands rejected. But the court stressed that the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution were “as much relevant at the stage of execution of the death sentence as they are in the interregnum between the imposition of that sentence and its execution”.
The court said all the four convicts have to be executed together since they were handed down the death penalty by a common judgment.
If one gets pardon, others too can: HC
The Delhi HC said on Wednesday that if the mercy plea of one of the four death row convicts in the case is allowed by the President, it would entitle those whose petitions for pardon have already been rejected to move a fresh mercy plea. The mercy pleas of Mukesh, Akshay and Vinay have already been rejected by the President. Pawan is yet to seek that relief.
Centre moves SC against HC order
Within hours of the Delhi HC refusing nod for execution of four convicts separately, the Centre challenged it in the SC on Wednesday saying calculated and designed delay in filing mercy petitions after exhausting all legal remedies should not frustrate the mandate of concurrent judicial decisions.
‘From trial court to SC, all convicts/accused were dealt by common order, judgment’
“It is not in dispute that the trial court convicted all the accused by common judgment and was confirmed by this court vide common judgment and the Supreme Court thereafter confirmed it vide common judgment. Thus, from trial court up to the Supreme Court, all the convicts/accused were dealt by common order and judgment,” HC observed, noting that “I am of the considered opinion that death warrants of all the convicts be executed together and not separately”.
Justice Kait noted that, by their conduct, the convicts had “frustrated the process by using delaying tactics” but then added that “so long as life lasts, so long shall it be the duty and endeavour of the court to give to the provisions of our Constitution a meaning which will prevent human suffering and degradation”.
The high court also faulted the authorities concerned for not taking steps to issue death warrants after rejection of appeals of the convicts by the Supreme Court in 2017 and noted that the men have been found guilty of “a horrible, dreadful, cruel, abominable, ghastly, gruesome and heinous offence of rape coupled with a bone-chilling murder of a young woman, which shook the conscience of the entire country”.
Rejects Centre’s Petition To Hang Them Separately
Abhinav.Garg@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:06.02.2020
Putting a lid on delaying tactics by the Nirbhaya death row convicts, the Delhi high court on Wednesday gave them seven days to exhaust all their remaining legal remedies while asserting that all four must hang together.
The court dismissed the Centre’s plea to allow separate hanging of the four convicts, observing that no matter what stage of the case, all procedures “must be fair, just and reasonable”.
Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of one of the convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh, who had filed the plea last week. The HC order means that Pawan Gupta, the only Nirbhaya convict who hasn’t filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court or a mercy plea with the President, now has a week’s time to exercise these options. The four can be hanged only after 14 days from the rejection of the last mercy plea.
While ruling that the four must hang together, Justice Suresh Kait agreed with the central government’s argument that Delhi prison rules allow separate hanging of a convict once his mercy plea stands rejected. But the court stressed that the fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution were “as much relevant at the stage of execution of the death sentence as they are in the interregnum between the imposition of that sentence and its execution”.
The court said all the four convicts have to be executed together since they were handed down the death penalty by a common judgment.
If one gets pardon, others too can: HC
The Delhi HC said on Wednesday that if the mercy plea of one of the four death row convicts in the case is allowed by the President, it would entitle those whose petitions for pardon have already been rejected to move a fresh mercy plea. The mercy pleas of Mukesh, Akshay and Vinay have already been rejected by the President. Pawan is yet to seek that relief.
Centre moves SC against HC order
Within hours of the Delhi HC refusing nod for execution of four convicts separately, the Centre challenged it in the SC on Wednesday saying calculated and designed delay in filing mercy petitions after exhausting all legal remedies should not frustrate the mandate of concurrent judicial decisions.
‘From trial court to SC, all convicts/accused were dealt by common order, judgment’
“It is not in dispute that the trial court convicted all the accused by common judgment and was confirmed by this court vide common judgment and the Supreme Court thereafter confirmed it vide common judgment. Thus, from trial court up to the Supreme Court, all the convicts/accused were dealt by common order and judgment,” HC observed, noting that “I am of the considered opinion that death warrants of all the convicts be executed together and not separately”.
Justice Kait noted that, by their conduct, the convicts had “frustrated the process by using delaying tactics” but then added that “so long as life lasts, so long shall it be the duty and endeavour of the court to give to the provisions of our Constitution a meaning which will prevent human suffering and degradation”.
The high court also faulted the authorities concerned for not taking steps to issue death warrants after rejection of appeals of the convicts by the Supreme Court in 2017 and noted that the men have been found guilty of “a horrible, dreadful, cruel, abominable, ghastly, gruesome and heinous offence of rape coupled with a bone-chilling murder of a young woman, which shook the conscience of the entire country”.
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