A Delhi court on Friday dismissed Tihar jail authorities’ plea seeking fresh date for execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

Taking note of the Delhi High Court’s February 5 order permitting the convicts to exercise their legal remedies within one week, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana said, “It is criminally sinful to execute the convicts when law permits them to live. The High Court on February 5 has permitted the convicts, in the interest of justice, to exercise their legal remedies within one week from same order.” 

“I concur with counsel for convicts that death warrants cannot be executed merely on basis of surmises and conjectures. The application is bereft of merit. Same is dismissed. State is liberty to move appropriate application as and when required,” the judge said.

Reacting to the court order, Asha Devi, the mother of Nirbhaya, said, “Today, the court had the power and we had time. Nothing was pending, yet death warrant has not been issued. It’s injustice to us, I will see till when the court gives time to the accused and government supports them.” 

Earlier, the Supreme Court said it will hear on February 11 the Centre’s plea challenging the Delhi High Court verdict that had dismissed its petition against the stay on the execution of the four death row convicts.

The trial court had on January 31 stayed “till further orders” execution of the four convicts in the case — Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

While Mukesh has exhausted all legal remedies, mercy petitions of Vinay and Akshay have been rejected. 

Pawan has not yet filed a curative petition — the last and final legal remedy available to a person which is decided in-chamber. Pawan also has the option of filing a mercy plea.

In the application, the authorities said the President has already dismissed the mercy petitions of three convicts and that no application by any of the four is currently pending before any court.

The authorities had also informed the court about Delhi High Court’s February 5 order which directed the convicts to take steps within a week, if they wished, to avail any remedy available under the law.

“It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that, keeping in view a week’s time given to the convicts by the high court, the fresh dates for the execution of death warrants…May kindly be fixed specifying the date and time for execution/ hanging of convicts Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, Mukesh and Akshay in the interest of justice,” the application had said.

The warrants, issued by the trial court on January 7, were later postponed “sine die” by it on January 31, giving the condemned prisoners a reprieve for the second time in two weeks.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was later postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order.

A 23-year-old psychotherapy student, dubbed by media as ‘Nirbhaya’, was gang-raped and brutalised on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, before being dumped on the road. She was airlifted to Singapore where she died on December 29, 2012. 

Six people, including a juvenile, were arrested for the crime. The juvenile was released after serving a three-year term at a juvenile home, one accused allegedly committed suicide in jail while four others – Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were sentenced to death.

(With PTI inputs)