The Delhi High Court on Sunday reserved judgement on the Centre and Tihar Jail’s plea challenging the stay on the execution of the four convicts in the December 16 gang rape case.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Sunday told the Delhi High Court at a special hearing that there is a deliberate, calculated and well thought of design by the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case convicts to “frustrate mandate of law” by getting their execution delayed.
Mehta told Justice Suresh Kait that convict Pawan Gupta’s move of not filing curative or mercy petition is a deliberate, calculated inaction.
“There is deliberate, calculated and well thought of design to frustrate mandate of law,” Mehta told the high court which is hearing Centre’s plea challenging stay on the execution of four death row convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case.
“There cannot be any delay in the interest of justice, death sentence cannot be delayed. In the interest of the convict, any delay in death sentence will have a dehumanising effect on the accused,” Mehta said.
The Solicitor General also told the court that the President had already examined the facts and rejected the mercy pleas of Mukesh and Vinay.
{{/usCountry}}The Solicitor General also told the court that the President had already examined the facts and rejected the mercy pleas of Mukesh and Vinay.
{{/usCountry}}He further added that just on the basis of speculation the court cannot pass an order. It would not be correct to presume that the President may in future commute the death sentence and hence the order cannot be delayed or stalled, he said.
Mehta reminded that the Delhi government did not have a problem nor did Tihar Jail with individual executions.
On Friday, a Delhi court had postponed the hanging of the four convicts, which had been scheduled for February 1 at 6am, till further orders on a plea by one of the convicts – Vinay Sharma – seeking a stay on the execution of the death warrant in wake of the mercy plea filed before the President.
Advocate AP Singh appearing for death row convicts Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar and Vinay Sharma, contended that there was no prescribed time given to execute the death sentence by the Supreme Court and Constitution.