Delhi court issues notices to Nirbhaya rape convicts on victim's parents' plea seeking case to be fast-tracked

A Delhi court on Friday issued notices to four convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape case on a plea filed by victim's parents seeking the execution to be expedited.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora has asked the convicts to apprise him about their status related to mercy and curative petitions.

The court has also issued a production warrant to Tihar Jail authorities for the appearance of the four men on December 13, the next date of hearing.

The court also said that it can not execute the death penalty of the four convicts until the decision on the mercy petition of Vinay, one of the convicts, is taken.

Meanwhile, Tihar jail authorities filed a status report on the petition stating that Vinay has filed a mercy petition on November 4 before President Ram Nath Kovind which has been forwarded to the government for consideration.

Other convicts -- Akshay has not filed a review petition while Mukesh and Pawan are yet to filed curative petitions.

Tihar jail authorities told the court that they have issued a notice to Pawan to know his status of filing petitions but Pawan responded that he did not want to file the plea.

Amicus Curiae Vrinda Grover told the court that the concerned authorities must apprise the death row convicts about the remedies available for them.

However, parents' counsel asked how long they will wait for justice.

Advocate Seema Samriddhi Kushwaha, who is representing Nirbhaya's parents in the case, said that she has approached the court when legal remedies of the convicts got exhausted and they are seeking the court's direction to Tihar jail authorities to expedite the execution of the rape convicts.

In December 2012, a 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped inside a running bus by six persons and thrown out on the road along with her male friend in the national capital. She succumbed to injuries a few days later.

Out of the six perpetrators, one committed suicide by hanging himself 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 death sentence by a trial court in 2013, which was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017.

On October 31, earlier this year, the Tihar Jail administration had issued a notice to the convicts asking them to file a mercy plea before the president.

As per law, the convicts can plead for mercy from the President and seek commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment. If the President allows the mercy petition, then the convicts may escape the gallows.