Nirbhaya Case: President Rejects Mercy Petition Of Mukesh

New Delhi: The President of India on Friday morning rejected the mercy petition of Mukesh Singh, a convict in the 2012 Nirbhaya case, in which a paramedic was cruelly gangraped and tortured before she was thrown out of a moving bus in December 2012.

Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother, welcomed the decision of the President to reject the mercy plea of Mukesh Singh and added that even if a single petition is rejected, that convict should be executed on the scheduled date.

Legal experts however point out that a window of 14 days has to be provided after the last option is exhausted which would mean that the countdown would start from Friday. Further, the Tihar jail manual, according to the defence lawyers in the Nirbhaya case, says that if a certain number of convicts are sentenced to death for the same crime, they will be hanged on the same day.

Legal experts also say that the rejection by the President of India can also be challenged claiming that the President did not have ample time to apply his mind to the case. This would mean that it is probably not the end of the legal road for Mukesh, even while other convicts await have not filed their mercy pleas as yet. It could mean further delay in the execution of the convicts since they are to be hanged together as per the Tihar jail manual.