Nirbhaya: Death Row Convict Seeks Urgent Hearing  

NEW DELHI: Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case has moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking urgent hearing on the rejection of mercy petition by the President. Ram Nath Kovind had dismissed the mercy petition on January 17.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said, "If somebody is going to be hanged then nothing can be more urgent than this."

The bench also comprising Justice B R Gavai and Justice Surya Kant said that if someone is to be executed on February 1, then it is a matter of top priority and asked Singh's counsel to approach the mentioning officer as the hanging is scheduled on February 1.

"Execution case will be given top priority," the bench said.

The warrant for the execution of death sentence for the four convicts in the case has been fixed on February 1 at 6 am.

Singh had moved the mercy plea after the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition against his conviction and death sentence. The apex court had also rejected the curative petition of another death row convict Akshay Kumar (31).

The other two convicts, Pawan Gupta (25) and Vinay Kumar Sharma are yet to file curative petitions before the Supreme Court.

A 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who came to be known as "Nirbhaya", the fearless, was gang-raped and savagely assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died of her injuries a fortnight later in a Singapore hospital.

Also Read | Nirbhaya: Convict Moves SC Against Prez’s Rejection Of Mercy Petition