Nirbhaya convicts move Patiala House Court seeking stay on execution; hearing tomorrow

Despite exhausting all their legal remedies, the convicts in the Nirbhaya rape and murder case approached the Patiala House Court on Wednesday seeking a stay on the execution of their death warrant. They are scheduled to hang till death on March 20 at 5.30 am. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana issued notice to the Tihar jail authorities and the state after AP Singh- the counsel for the rapists argued that that the second mercy petitions of his clients Akshay and Pawan were pending. 

The matter will be taken up at noon on Thursday. Meanwhile, a six-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, Rohinton Nariman, R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna will conduct an in-chamber hearing on the second curative plea filed by convict Pawan pertaining to juvenility on Thursday at 10.25 am. Incidentally, a three-judge Supreme Court bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna had already dismissed his juvenility plea on January 20. Meanwhile, three Nirbhaya convicts also moved the International Court of Justice, seeking a stay on the execution of the death sentence.

Read: Hangman Reaches Tihar Jail To Conduct Dummy Hanging Ahead Of Nirbhaya Convicts' Execution

Read: Nirbhaya Case: NHRC Dismisses Convict Mukesh's Plea Seeking Intervention In Execution

What is the Nirbhaya rape and murder case? 

A 23-year-old paramedic student Nirbhaya was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons on December 16, 2012, in Delhi. The victim was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend and succumbed to injuries a few days later. Out of the six convicts, one reportedly committed suicide in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015. The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed the death penalty by a trial court in 2013, confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017. 

Read: Nirbhaya Convicts' Lawyer AP Singh Now Approaches NHRC In Desperate Bid To Stay Executions

Read: Nirbhaya Case: Convict Pawan Gupta Files Curative Plea In SC Again Days After Moving ICJ