Delhi court defers hanging of 4 Nirbhaya case convicts till further orders

New Delhi, March 2: A Delhi court Monday deferred till further orders the hanging of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case pending disposal of a convict’s mercy plea, saying it was “an important constitutional legal principle”.

All the convicts in the case were to be hanged together on Tuesday at 6 AM. The execution of their death warrants has now been deferred thrice due to delays in exhausting legal remedies.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said the death sentence cannot be executed pending disposal of the mercy petition of convict Pawan Gupta.

“Despite stiff resistance from the victim’s side, I am of the opinion that any condemned convict must not meet his Creator with a grievance in his bosom that the courts of the country have not acted fairly in granting him an opportunity to exhaust his legal remedies,” the judge said.

“As a cumulative effect of the discussion, I am of the opinion that the death sentence cannot be executed pending the disposal of the mercy petition of the convict. It is hereby directed that the execution of death warrants against all the convicts, scheduled for March 3 at 6 AM, is deferred till further orders,” the judge added.

The court passed the order on Pawan’s plea seeking to stay the execution as he filed a mercy petition before the President on Monday.

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https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/delhi-court-defers-hanging-of-december-16-gangrape-convicts-120030200982_1.html