Nirbhaya: SC dismisses curative pleas filed by two death-row convicts

New Delhi, Jan 14: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed curative petitions filed by two convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Kumar had filed the petitions last week in a bid to delay the death penalty to be executed on 22 January.

The bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan did not find any merits in the curative petitions.

On January 7, Additional Sessions Judge, Patiala House Court in Delhi had issued death warrants for their hanging on January 22.

The two judges were also part of the bench which rejected review petitions filed by the three of the four convicts in 2018.

The other two convicts in the case are Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta. These two have not filed any curative petition yet. The curative petition is the last judicial remedy left for the convict. If the apex court rejects their plea, then they have only one option of seeking mercy before the President. All the four convicts will be hanged on January 22 at Tihar Jail.

On Sunday, the authorities of Tihar jail conducted a dummy execution ahead of the hanging of Nirbhaya's killers. A black warrant was issued for the hanging of the four convicts for January 22 at 7 am. Officials said that the dummy was created in sacks that were filled with stones and debris. The weight of the convicts was considered while creating the dummy, officials also said. The four convicts would be hanged in the Jail 3 of Tihar.

The Uttar Pradesh Prison authority has confirmed that Pawan Jallad from Meerut will be sent to hang the four convicts on January 22.

Earlier this month, a Delhi court issued death warrants against all four convicts in the case. The case is related to rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student by six men on a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012. Reportedly, six people were convicted in the case, one was a minor, who was sent to a rehabilitation centre, and another, Ram Singh, committed suicide in the Tihar Jail.