All 4 Nirbhaya case convicts to be hanged on 22 Jan

All the four convicts in the December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case will be hanged on January 22 at 7 a.m. inside the Tihar jail.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora issued the death warrants for convicts Mukesh, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta on a plea by the victim’s parents to expedite their execution.

On December 18 last, the Supreme Court dismissed a review petition filed by convict Akshay Kumar Singh against its 2017 judgment upholding his death penalty.

In July 2018, the top court dismissed the review petition of Mukesh (30), Gupta (23) and Sharma (24), saying no grounds have been made by them for a review of the 2017 verdict.

A juvenile convict in the case has been released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term. One of the accused in the case, Ram Singh, died in the Tihar Jail.

The convicts can still move a curative petition before the top court against their conviction and death penalty. Once the curative petition, the last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances in a court of law, is dismissed, the convicts can seek a pardon from the President.

Article 72 of the Constitution says the President has the power ‘to grant pardons, etc, and to suspend, remit or commute sentences in certain cases.’

News Source: The Hindu