The Supreme Court has today dismissed a Curative petition filed by one of four death row convicts’ in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, Pawan Kumar Gupta, against its previous verdict which rejected his claim of being a juvenile, at the time of the offense.
The six-judge bench comprising of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, and AS Bopanna has dismissed the curative petition stating that “In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra & Another.”
Pawan Gupta has raised the same claim of juvenility while preferring a separate curative petition challenging the confirmation of his death sentence as well. The apex court bench of Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan, and AS Bopanna had earlier dismissed this plea in January.
Earlier, on 18 March, the wife of Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case, has filed for a divorce at a local family court of Aurangabad in Bihar, stating that she does not want to live the life of a widow, since her husband is set to be hanged on 20 March.
Subsequently, on 11 March, Pawan has moved a Delhi Court, seeking registration of FIR against two police personnel for allegedly physically assaulting him in Mandoli jail in July 2019.
Recently, the National Human Rights Commission had also rejected a plea to stay their execution. An appeal seeking a stay on the execution of the four convicts has also been made before the International Court of Justice, previously.
All the four convicts are scheduled to be hanged on March 20 at 5.30 AM, after a Delhi’s trial court has issued fresh death warrants, for the fourth time.
