The hearing of the petition for hearing on the death row has been postponed till March 5

The Center has demanded separate execution of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case in the Supreme Court

(PTI) New Delhi, Ta. February 25, 2020, Tuesday

The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing of the central government's petition seeking separation of the guilty from the Nirbhaya case. A bench headed by Justice R Banumati will hear the petition demanding separation of the convict from the Home Ministry in the Delhi gang rape case of 2012.

It is pertinent to mention that the Delhi trial court has issued a new death warrant against all four convicts and accordingly all three will be hanged on March 3.

The apex court had earlier made it clear on February 14 that Delhi's trial court could issue death warrants against all the four convicts even if the plea of ​​the central government seeking separate execution of the guilty was delayed.

The Home Ministry's petition, hearing before Justice R Banumati, Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice Naveen Sinha, has been postponed till March 5. The bench said that the petition will be heard on March 5 at three in the afternoon.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court had on February 5 rejected the Center's petition challenging the trial court's order to stay the stay on the death sentence of four convicts.

The trial court on February 17 issued a death warrant for the four convicts - 32-year-old Mukesh Kumar Singh, 25-year-old Gupta, 26-year-old Vinay Kumar Sharma and 31-year-old Akshay Kumar - at 6am on March 3. It is worth mentioning that the mercy petitions of President Mukesh, Vinay and Akshay have already been rejected.

The fourth convict, Pawan, has never even filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court and a mercy petition before the President. Mukesh and Vinay had challenged the president's decision to dismiss the mercy petition. However, Akshay has not yet challenged the president's decision to dismiss the mercy petition in the Supreme Court.