Mukesh Kumar Singh (Photo Credit: PTI)
New Delhi :
The merch plea of Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, has been rejected by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on the recommendation of the Delhi government. The plea has now reached Amit Shah-led Home Minister, which will send it to the President with its own recommendation. According to reports, the plea is expected to be forwarded to the MHA by today evening. The decision on granting mercy to the convict lies with President Ram Nath Kovind.
Earlier, the mercy plea was rejected by the Lieutenant Governor on Thursday. The development comes a day after the Arvind Kejriwal government sent a recommendation of rejection of the mercy plea to the LG.
What Delhi High Court had said
Mukesh Singh had approached a Delhi court seeking postponement of the date of his execution on the ground that his mercy petition is pending with the President of India. The court will hear the matter at 2 pm on Thursday. The Delhi High Court Wednesday declined to entertain Singh’s plea against the death warrant issued by a trial court and gave him the liberty to challenge it in sessions court.
The plea was mentioned before Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora who has issued notice to the state and parents of the Nirbhaya for Thursday. The court asked the counsel for Mukesh to supply an advance copy of the plea to the prosecutor. Mukesh's counsel moved the trial court immediately after the Delhi High Court declined to entertain his plea to set aside the January 7 order issuing his death warrant and asked them to approach the lower court.
No relief from Supreme Court
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petitions filed by two Nirbhaya convicts. Two convicts – Mukesh Singh and Vinay Kumar Sharma – had filed the curative pleas after a Delhi court issued death warrants against them. A curative petition is the last legal remedy available to a convict apart from mercy plea. A five-judge bench of Justices NV Ramana, Arun Mishra, RF Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan was hearing the curative pleas.
