Nirbhaya Case: Hanging delayed due to Kejriwal government says Union Minister Javadekar

The centre accused the Delhi government due to delay in the hanging of convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case on Thursday. Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said the hanging has been delayed in the justice due to "negligence of the Delhi government".

"The hanging of the convicts in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case is now delayed because of Delhi government's negligence. AAP is responsible for this delay in justice. Why did the Kejriwal government not give notice to the convicts for filing mercy plea in the last 2.5 years?" Javadekar asked.

Senior party leader and Union minister Prakash said had the AAP government given notices to all convicts within a week of the Supreme Court order, they would have been hanged by now.

The Delhi government and Tihar jail authorities said as per prison rules if death sentence has been awarded to more than one person in a case and if one of them moves a mercy plea, the execution of the others too has to be postponed till the plea is decided.

In response, the court told the authorities: "Then your rule is bad if you cannot take action till all the co-convicts have moved a mercy plea. It seems there has been non-application of mind (while framing the rules). The system is suffering from cancer."

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government on Wednesday had rejected the mercy plea of Mukesh, one of the convicts.

The convicts were sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old medical student in a moving bus in Delhi in 2012.

The victim succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Singapore where she had been airlifted for medical treatment.