Nirbhaya Rape Case: SC To Pronounce Order Tomorrow On Convict Vinay Sharma’s Plea Against Rejection Of Mercy Petition

The Supreme Court on Thursday (13 February) reserved the order on plea filed by one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case for Friday (14 February), reports The New Indian Express.

In his plea, convict Vinay Sharma has challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by President, alleging that it was done in a “mala fide” manner.

Claiming that he has “developed mental illness” inside the prison due to alleged “torture and ill-treatment”, Sharma also sought commutation of his death sentence to life sentence.

A bench of Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna said the court will pass orders on Friday at 2 pm on Sharma's plea.

The apex court had earlier dismissed a plea filed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, another death row convict in the case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.

A Delhi court had earlier issued warrant for the execution of death sentence of the four convicts - Vinay, Mukesh, Pawan and Akshay - on 1 February at 6 am.

However, the execution was deferred by the Delhi court after the convicts filed an application seeking stay on the hangings as one of the convict had filed a mercy plea before the President.

The case pertains to gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student, referred to as Nirbhaya, on the intervening night of 16-17 December 2012, in a moving bus in south Delhi by six people before she was thrown out on the road. She was flown to a hospital in Singapore where she died.

All six accused were arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder. One of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail. The four convicts were sentenced to death by a trial court in September 2013, and the verdict confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014 and upheld in May 2017 by the Supreme Court, which also dismissed their review petitions.