A Patiala House Court of Delhi, on 12 February has adjourned the plea filed by the Delhi government, which sought new death warrants for the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case. The executions of the four men had been stayed by the trial court on January 31, till further orders.
The bench headed by Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana expressed displeasure over delay from convict Pawan Gupta’s side, who is yet to file a curative and a mercy petition. However, the convict Pawan informed the court that he has removed his earlier lawyer and will need time to engage a new one.
Earlier on 11 February, the apex court allowed the Union Government to seek the trial court for a fresh execution date against the four death row convicts in the case Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay, and Pawan.
Nevertheless, the victim’s mother, Asha Devi had once again broken down in the Delhi court and pleaded the judge saying she has been seeking a date for the hanging of the four convicts for years now. She stated that all these are tactics for further delaying the case.
“What about my rights?” questioned the victim’s mother in the court.
To this, Judge Rana replied “Everyone is conscious of your rights. That is why these proceedings are happening.”
On the other hand, the Tihar jail authorities had filed a status report on Tuesday before the trial court stating that no legal option was preferred by either of the four convicts in the last seven-day period, which was granted by the Delhi High Court.
