Nirbhaya Case: Hanging Of 4 Convicts Postponed

The Patiala House Court, on Friday, postponed the execution of the three convicts, Vinay Sharma, Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta till further orders. The convicts had earlier sought postponement of their hanging on Saturday, February 1, 2019. Judge Dharmendra Rana on his first day at the Patiala House Court, pronounced the verdict at 5.30 pm on Friday.

Lawyers and human rights activists arguing for the convicts told the court that the legal options of other three convicts have not yet been exhausted. They also argued that the convicts should be hanged together since they are co-accused in the case.

However, Tihar Jail authorities are said to have expressed the view that these are merely guidelines in the jail manual and are not mandatory. The Jail officials have already summoned the hangman from Meerut and have also carried out a dummy hanging.

The Supreme Court, on Friday, dismissed the plea of one convict on the death row in the Nirbhaya case, Pawan Gupta, who claimed that he had been a minor at the time of the commission of the crime.

Speaking to the media, Nirbhaya's mother, Asha Devi, said that they were shocked to see human rights activists appearing on behalf of the convicts and wondered why the thought of their daughter's rights never occurred to them.

Meanwhile, responding to a plea from the government, the Supreme Court suggested that it would review guidelines for death row convicts. The government contended that the guidelines need to be tweaked to make them more victim-friendly. Currently, there are too many loopholes in the legal system which can be exploited by the accused.