A trial court on Friday dismissed a plea moved by Tihar Prison authorities seeking a fresh death warrant against four men accused of gang-raping an Indian medical student in a moving bus in 2012.
The court rejected the request of the jail authorities, terming it as premature, as a higher court had given the convicts time until 11 February to exhaust all legal remedies before deciding the next step, and that period is not over yet.
“The plea is bereft of merits, death warrant can't be issued on the surmises of conjectures,” the court said.
Delhi’s Tihar Jail authorities sought a fresh warrant on the ground that none of the convicts has a pending petition before any constitutional authority as of 7 February.
While one of the suspects Mukesh Singh has exhausted all legal remedies, Indian President Ram Nath Kovind rejected the mercy petitions of other two convicts - Vinay and Akshay - on 1 February and 5 February respectively. The fourth accused, Pawan Kumar, is yet to file a petition before the President.
On 5 February, the High Court of Delhi upheld the stay by the Trial Court on the death sentence granted to the four culprits.
The six men were arrested for a crime that took place on 16 December 2012 when a girl, named "Nirbhaya" - or Fearless (not her actual name) was returning home with a male friend. She was gang-raped in a moving bus and later succumbed to her injuries in a hospital. While the prime accused Ram Singh allegedly committed suicide during the trial, another one was a juvenile and was released after he served three years in a reform facility. The incident had triggered large-scale protests in the national capital and several other places.
