Judgement on Dec 16 gang rape convicts’ hanging today

The Delhi high court (HC) will pronounce its judgment Wednesday on a plea by the Central government challenging the postponement of the hanging of the four convicts

The Delhi high court (HC) will pronounce its judgment Wednesday on a plea by the Central government challenging the postponement of the hanging of the four convicts in the 2012 December 16 gang rape case after one of them had moved the court seeking a stay on the death warrant in wake of his pending mercy petition before the President.

HT Image

Justice Suresh Kait is likely to pronounce the verdict at 2.30pm Wednesday which would also decide if two of the four convicts—Mukesh Singh and Vinay Sharma, whose mercy pleas have been rejected by the President—can be hanged individually.

On Saturday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had challenged the January 31 order of the single-judge bench stopping the death warrant till further orders stating that the four convicts cannot be hanged separately according to the Delhi Prison Rules (DPR), 2018.

The four convicts—Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Kumar Gupta (25), Akshay Thakur (31) and Vinay Sharma (26)—are on death row for the gang rape and assault of a 23-year-old paramedic student inside a moving bus on December 16. The young woman died in a hospital in Singapore on December 29, 2012.

Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta opposed the finding on Saturday as well as at a special hearing on Sunday, stating that the rules have been wrongly interpreted by the trial court. He said the convicts are making a mockery of justice by using deliberated, calculated actions to frustrate the mandate of the law.

However, senior advocate Rebecca John had blamed the Centre and Delhi government for the delay in execution of the death sentence. She said both of the governments “were sleeping all these years and have suddenly woken up”. She added that the convicts have the right to exhaust all remedies till their last breath.

The court had then reserved the order on Sunday.

On Tuesday, advocate Jitendra Kumar Jha, counsel for the 23-year-old paramedic student, mentioned the matter before Justice Suresh Kait and sought its speedy disposal.