Two Nirbhaya case accused appear before court on March 3 for hanging

New Delhi, Mar 5, 2020 Wednesday

Of the four accused in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, two accused have filed a petition in Delhi court demanding stay of the death sentence on March 7.

In connection with the petition filed by Akshay Singh and Pawan Kumar Gupta, Additional Sessions Judge Dharmendra Rana has issued a notice to Tihar jail officials and ordered to file a reply on March 2nd.

Akshay Singh's lawyer has filed a petition in Delhi court claiming that the mercy petition he filed with the president is still pending. Advocate AP Singh, who is present on behalf of Akshay Singh, said that all the facts were not mentioned in the mercy petition which was rejected by the President earlier.

Gupta, on the other hand, has told the court that he has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court and is currently deferred. He further stated that he still had the option to apply for mercy.

The Delhi court on February 3 ordered the hanging of 3-year-old Mukesh Kumar Singh, 3-year-old Pawan Gupta, 3-year-old Vinay Kumar Sharma and 3-year-old Akshay Kumar on March 3. The Delhi court has issued a death warrant in this case for the third time.

Of the four accused, Pawan Gupta, 7, has not yet filed a mercy petition with the President. The execution was decided for the first time on January 3, then the hanging order was issued on February 1 and it is now decided to be executed on March 3rd. Earlier on Friday, Pawan Gupta filed a curatorial petition. A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear the second March on this windy curative petition.