Delhi govt. recommends rejection of Nirbhaya convict’s mercy plea

Pawan Gupta had filed the petition before the President on Monday

04/03/2020, NIKHIL M BABU ,NEW DELHI

The Delhi government on Tuesday informed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), its recommendation for “rejection” of the mercy petition filed by Pawan Gupta, one of the convicts in the rape and murder case of Nirbhaya, a senior Delhi government official said.

The recommendation was sent to the MHA after approval of the same by Delhi Home Minister Satyendar Jain and Lt. Governor Anil Baijal. Gupta had filed the petition before the President on Monday.

“The Home Department recommended the rejection of the mercy petition and it was sent to the Minister and L-G, who approved the same. The recommendation for rejection was then sent to the MHA by the Home Department today [Tuesday],” the senior Delhi government official told The Hindu.

“The mercy petitions of the other three convicts were all rejected and the fourth one cannot be different. This will also be rejected by the President,” the official added.

Execution postponed

The four convicts were supposed to be hanged to death on Tuesday at 6 a.m. On Monday, hours before their execution, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana put on hold their execution when informed that Gupta has moved a mercy petition before the President.

Even if the President rejects the mercy plea of the convict, the law laid down by the Supreme Court in its Shatrughan Chauhan judgment of 2014 requires the convict to be given 14 days time to set his affairs straight and “prepare” for the execution.

Gupta, Akshay, Mukesh, and Vinay brutally gang-raped the 23-year-old para-medical student in a moving bus on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012. She died a few days later. An accused, Ram Singh, allegedly committed suicide in the Tihar Jail. A juvenile, who was among the accused, was convicted by the Juvenile Justice Board. He was released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.