In a recent twist, a criminal in the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order, which dismissed his claim of being a juvenile at the time of the crime.
Convocation Pawan Kumar Gupta has challenged the December 19 order of the High Court under which he had also quashed the conduct of his advocate for filing forged documents and not appearing in the court.
Earlier today, on February 1, a fresh set of death warrants was issued by a Delhi court for the execution of the four convicts, soon after the President quickly dismissed the mercy petition of one of them.
Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora ordered that four people in Tihar Jail be hanged at 6 am on February 1, however, resented the delay in their execution.
“This case presents a scenario when the convicts were given an opportunity to file mercy but only one was preferred. Delay strategies may occur. How long will it run? Had the death warrant not been issued, the culprits would not have started their legal remedies, ”he said.
Judge Mukesh Kumar Singh was hearing a plea for adjournment of the date fixed for 7 am on January 22 in view of the pendency of his mercy petition.
According to the Delhi government, the jail rule mandates a buffer period of 14 days between the day of rejection of mercy petition and the day of execution.
Besides Mukesh, 32, Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) were to be hanged. Judge Arora issued a death warrant against him on 7 January.
The prison administration has made preparations and conducted mock hanging sessions using sandbags with new ropes.
The Supreme Court has already dismissed Mukesh and Vinay’s remedial petitions, the last judicial recourse challenging the death penalty.
