Nirbhaya convicts have 7 days to file mercy plea or else they will hang at the gallows

New Delhi, Nov 01: The four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case have been informed that they have exhausted all legal remedies. The convicts who are on a death row have now been given seven days time to file a mercy petition before the President of India.

In case they fail to do so the jail administration would initiate further necessary legal proceedings as per the law.

The notice was issued by the Tihar Jail authorities to Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Kumar. The notice was signed by the Superintendent, Central Jail No. 2, Tihar Jail and is dated October 29, 2019.

"It is informed that all legal remedies in your case as available in the Constitution of India have been exhausted except the provision of filing of mercy petition against the capital sentence before the President of India," the notice reads.

The notice also read, "further, it is hereby informed that in case you have not yet filed the mercy petition, and if you wish to file the mercy petition in your case against the capital sentence before the Hon'ble President of India, you can file it within seven days of the receipt of this notice, through the prison authorities, failing which it will be presumed that you are not willing to file mercy petition in your case and the jail administration will initiate further necessary legal proceedings as per law."

The counsel for the convicts said that a curative plea would be preferred in the Supreme Court. The counsel A P Singh also said that he would be replying to the notice.

On July 9, 2018, the Supreme Court had dismissed the pleas of the convicts who had sought review of its 2017 verdict upholding the death sentence. The trial court and the Delhi High Court had also awarded them capital punishment. The order was passed in the case of three convicts as the court-Akshay preferred not to appeal.

On December 16, 2012, a 23 year old woman was gangraped and assaulted inside a moving bus in South Delhi by six persons before being thrown out on the road. She breathed her last on December 29, 2012.

While one accused, Ram Singh hanged himself in jail, another a juvenile was convicted and served a three year term at a reform facility.