SC dismisses curative petitions of two convicts in Nirbhaya rape case

The Supreme Court today dismissed the curative petitions filed by two of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana were unanimous that there was no merit in the curative petitions filed by the condemned petitioners Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Kumar. The proceedings were conducted in chamber. The applications for stay of execution of the death sentence were also rejected. A curative petition is the last and final legal remedy available to a death row convict.

A Delhi
court had on 7th of January issued death warrants for hanging of four convicts
on 22nd of January at 7 am in Tihar jail.

Meanwhile,
convict Mukesh moved the Delhi High Court today for setting aside the death
warrant issued by the trial court. The plea is listed for hearing tomorrow. The
plea also states that he has moved mercy petitions before the Delhi Lieutenant
Governor and the President of India.

Two other
death-row convicts, Akshay Kumar Singh and Pawan Gupta, had not filed curative
petitions. Besides the four convicts, two more were accused in the gangrape and
murder case. Ram Singh, the fifth accused, committed suicide and a juvenile was
released after three years in a reform home.

The
23-year-old paramedic student dubbed as Nirbhaya – the fearless one, was raped
and brutally assaulted on a moving bus on 16th of December, 2012. She died from
her injuries 13 days later.