SC rejects curative petitions of 2 death row convicts in Nirbhaya case

A five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana rejected the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma (26) and Mukesh Kumar (32)

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to stay the execution of two of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case while dismissing their curative petitions against their conviction and capital punishment.

The four convicts -- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail as a Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.

A five-judge bench of the apex court, during in-chamber proceedings, rejected the curative petitions filed by Vinay and Mukesh.