A Delhi court on Thursday issued a fresh death warrant to all four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The order by the court states all four convicts to be hanged on March 20, at 05:30 am, reports ANI.
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Reportedly, the order by a Delhi court comes after President Ram Nath Kovind had rejected the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta – one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya case.
Earlier on Wednesday, a plea was moved in a Delhi court, seeking fresh death warrant for the execution of the four convicts, contending that the convicts had exhausted all the legal remedies available to them. This is the fourth death warrant issued by a Delhi court.
Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana issued notice to the convicts seeking their response on the application and slated the matter for hearing at 2 pm today.
Public prosecutor advocate Irfan Ahmad, appearing for the state, sought the issuance of a fresh date for execution on Wednesday, saying that the convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies available to them.
“The only legal remedy available to Pawan Gupta has also been exhausted. As there is no legal remedy left, please issue a fresh date of execution today itself,” he said.
On Monday, the court, for the third time, had stayed the death sentence of four convicts in the case observing that they cannot be executed while a mercy petition is pending before the President. However, the President has rejected the mercy petition of all the convicts in the case.
Meanwhile, Delhi gang-rape victim Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi on Thursday contended that the convicts have exhausted all the legal remedies.
“If there is any chance, I would like to see them die,” said Nirbhaya’s mother Asha Devi.
On Wednesday, she had thanked President Ram Nath Kovind for rejecting the mercy petition of Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the case.
Meanwhile, AP Singh – the lawyer representing the convicts AP Singh, has blamed the media for promoting ‘judicial killings’. AP Singh, who helped the 4 convicts in filing multiple petitions challenging the execution, on Thursday, said that the convicts have already been killed 4 times and they are no terrorist.
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“Media pressure has already killed them. They have been killed 4 times with 4 death warrants. They have been hanged 3 times,” said lawyer AP Singh, who has been representing the rape and murder convicts in court.
The lawyer also said, “The court tells us I am playing with fire this means I am being harassed and threatened.”
The four convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in May 2017, which also dismissed their review petition in July 2018.