Execution warrant of Nirbhaya gangrape convicts not issued yet, govt tells court

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday was informed that the execution warrant in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case has not been issued yet.

The special public prosecutor (SPP) Rajiv Mohan told the court that neither the execution warrant has been issued nor the curative petition has been filed. "The process under Section 413 CrPC has not happened yet," he added.

Under section 413, the execution order was passed, while a curative petition was a last judicial resort available for redressal of grievances in court.

Judge Satish Kumar Arora was hearing a petition filed by Nirbhaya's parents seeking a direction to Tihar jail authorities to fast track the procedure to hang all the four convicts. Newly appointed Judge Arora heard the matter for the first time today.

On the petition of the kin, the court on Thursday sought a report from jail authorities on the current status of the legal remedies being sought by the convicts and slated the matter to Friday at 12.30 pm.

On December 16 in 2012, a 23-year-old paramedic student was gangraped inside a running bus by six persons in the national capital.

The victim, who was severely assaulted and thrown out on the road along with her male friend, succumbed to injuries a few days later.

Out of the six perpetrators, one committed suicide by hanging himself in prison, while another, a juvenile, served maximum punishment of three years in a reform home and was set free in 2015.

The remaining four rapists were convicted and handed death sentence by a trial court in 2013, which was confirmed by the Delhi High Court in March 2014. The Supreme Court upheld the Delhi High Court's verdict in 2017.

On October 31, earlier this year, the Tihar Jail administration had issued a notice to the convicts asking them to file a mercy plea before the president.

As per law, the convicts can plead for mercy from the President and seek commutation of death sentence to life imprisonment. If the President allows the mercy petition, then the convicts may escape the gallows.