Akshay Thakur, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case has filed his mercy petition before the President, two days after the Supreme Court has dismissed his curative petition.
Earlier today, President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition filed by the other death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case, Vinay Sharma.
As per rules and the new establishments in the case, none of the four convicts are likely to be hanged before 15 February, since the rules state that the convict must be given 14 days between the rejection of a mercy plea and their execution. Further, as per Delhi Prison Rules 2018, if there are any pending appeals or applications by even one convict, the execution gets postponed for all co-convicts.
Earlier, on 7 January, the Delhi’s Patiala Court bench headed by Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora confirmed that the four convicts in the case will be hanged at 7 AM on 22 January. However, due to pending mercy plea of one of the convicts, Mukesh, a fresh death warrant was issued on 17 January, stating that the convicts will be hanged on 1 February at 6 AM.
Subsequently, on 31 January, the Delhi’s Patiala Court has accepted the plea filed by the death row convicts in Nirbhaya case and granted stay on their execution till further order, which was earlier scheduled on 1 February.
Advocate AP Singh appearing for the convicts sought the court to adjourn the executions ‘sine die’ (with no appointed date for resumption) as the convicts’ mercy plea before the president was still pending.
