Nirbhaya gangrape case: SC rejects curative plea of death row convict

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a curative petition filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta who was sentenced to death in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said that no case is made out for re-examining the conviction and the punishment of the convict.

Other members of the bench were justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

The Supreme Court has already rejected the curative petitions of the remaining three convicts.

Pawan Kumar Gupta has now filed a mercy plea before the President of India, his lawyer A P Singh said.

A fresh death warrant has also been issued for the four convicts -- Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta and Mukesh Singh -- setting the time of their hanging at 6 am on March 3 at Delhi's Tihar Jail.

The mercy petitions of three convicts -- Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay -- have already been dismissed by the President.

The apex court had earlier dismissed separate pleas filed by Mukesh and Vinay challenging the rejection of their mercy petitions by the President.

Akshay has not yet challenged the rejection of his mercy petition.

The four were convicted in the brutal gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

Delhi court rejects pleas of Akshay Singh and Pawan Kumar Gupta

A Delhi court today dismissed the pleas of two other death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case who were seeking a stay on the execution of death warrants, scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana rejected the applications of Akshay Singh and Pawan Kumar Gupta.
 

After the order was passed, Gupta's lawyer, A P Singh, told the court that a mercy plea has been filed by his client before the President and therefore, his execution ought to be stayed.
 

The court, thereafter, asked Singh to come after lunch to argue on the point.