The Delhi High Court has rejected the federal government's plea for separate hanging of the four convicts in the December 16, 2012, gang rape and murder case. Justice Suresh Kait has stated that all four convicts have to be hanged together.
“The rules of the Delhi Prison do not state that if mercy petition of any convict is pending, the execution of the other convicts can take place. The fate of the convicts has been decided by a common judgement of the Supreme Court, so the death warrants of all the convicts should be executed together,” the court said on Wednesday.
The court has also given a week’s notice to the four convicts that any additional legal action needs to take place this week, after which the execution will take place.
The Centre has now approached the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's order.
The four accused – Mukesh Singh, Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta and Akshay – have been filing mercy pleas one after the other leading to the delay in the execution of the death sentence.
Six men were originally found guilty of the gang rape of a woman when she was returning home around midnight with a male friend.
One of the accused Ram Singh committed suicide in jail during the trial, while another was set free after spending three years in a reform facility as he was a juvenile when the crime was committed.