SC junks curative pleas, 1 of 4 convicts moves HC against death warrant

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the curative petitions filed by two of the four death row convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case.

A 5-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana rejected the curative petitions filed by Vinay Sharma (26) and Mukesh Kumar (32).

The proceedings were conducted in-chamber. A curative petition is the last and final legal remedy available to a person.

The five judges were unanimous that there was no merit in the curative petitions filed by the two condemned petitioners.

"The applications for stay of execution of death sentence are also rejected. We have gone through the Curative Petitions and the relevant documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this Court in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra & Another, reported in 2002 (4) SCC 388. Hence, the Curative Petitions are dismissed," the bench said.

The other members of the bench were Justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

Vinay and Mukesh had filed curative petitions on January 9.

Meanwhile, one of the four convicts Mukesh, has moved mercy petition against the pending capital punishment and has also moved Delhi High Court to seek a stay on the death warrant.

"The petitioner's Constitutional right to seek mercy will be rendered infructuous if the execution warrant dated 7.1.2020 is not stayed," Mukesh said in his petition filed through his lawyer A P Singh.

The plea sought for directions for setting aside the trial court order and not to give effect to the order for execution of death sentence on January 22.

A Delhi court had earlier this month while issuing death warrants against the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case observed that "despite being afforded sufficient time and opportunity" the convicts didn't exercise their legal remedies.

Additional Sessions Judge Satish Kumar Arora said: "It is apparent from the record, sufficient time and opportunity was given to the convict to exercise and exhaust their remedies as available to them under the law. Either the remedies have been exercised and exhausted by the respondents or have not been resorted to despite afforded sufficient time and opportunity."