HC asks Tihar to consider media house plea to interview Nirbhaya convicts

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked Tihar Jail authorities to consider afresh the plea of a media house seeking permission to interview the four men on death row for their role in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

Justice Navin Chawla said since the authorities had allowed one of the convicts to meet his lawyer after fixing of date of execution, contrary to the prison rules, they can consider the media house's request to interview the four death row inmates who are to be hanged on March 20.

The court also asked the prison authorities to pass a reasoned order on the request and to communicate it to the media house on Thursday.

It also noted that the date of execution of the four -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) -- has been changed four times, with the latest order being of March 5, and since there was a possibility that it might happen again, the request of the media house be considered.

With the observation, the court disposed of the plea moved by the media house seeking permission to interview the four.

The media house had also challenged the Tihar Jail's February 27 order rejecting their request.

It had claimed the purpose behind the interview was to have a "deterrent effect on such crimes in the future".