Delhi court asks Tihar jail to file report on Nirbhaya convict's plea seeking stay on execution

A Delhi court on Saturday asked Tihar jail authorities to file a report on an application moved by Akshay Kumar Singh, a convict in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, seeking a stay on the execution of the death warrant.

Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana listed the matter for further hearing on Monday.

Advocate AP Singh, lawyer of the convict, today informed the court a "complete" mercy petition of the convict Akshay Kumar Singh has been moved before the President of India claiming that the earlier one, which was dismissed, did not have the "complete facts".

The petition said that a curative petition of convict Pawan Gupta and a special leave petition are pending before the Supreme Court while a criminal appeal case is also pending before the Delhi High Court.

It said that a petition is also pending before the election commission of India challenging the mercy petition of Vinay Sharma.

President Ram Nath Kovind had, on February 5, rejected the mercy petition of convict Akshay. So far, mercy petitions of Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh have also been rejected.

This comes as the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh -- are scheduled to be hanged at 6 am on March 3.

The case pertains to the brutal gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.