Delhi Govt. Recommends Dismissal Of Nirbhaya Convicts' Mercy Plea

After Vinay Kumar, a convict in the heinous Nirbhaya gang-rape case filed for mercy petition before President Ram Nath Kovind last month, the Delhi government said “strongly recommending” rejection of mercy pleasof the convicts on Sunday. Delhi home minister Satyendar Jain sent a file to Lt Governor Anil Baijal with Arvind Kejriwal government's recommendations on the Nirbhaya gangrape case.

“This is the most heinous crime of extreme brutality committed by the applicant (Vinay Sharma). This is the case where exemplary punishment should be given to deter others from committing such atrocious crimes,” a source quoted Jain as saying in the file noting. The Delhi home minister also said, “There is no merit in mercy petition, strongly recommended for rejection.” Lt Governor Baijal will further consider the recommendations and send the file to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs along with his own recommendations.

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Sharma is lodged in Tihar jail along with two other convicts - Pawan Kumar Gupta and Akshay Kumar Singh - and the fourth convict, Mukesh Singh is lodged in Mandoli Jail. Sharma's lawyer, Ajay Prakash Singh was surprised by the factthat he went ahead and filed for a mercy petition. He told IANS that he has no idea how his client changed his mind to seek clemency from the president in a matter of two-three days.

“Maybe Tihar Jail authorities pressurised him to write mercy petition,” Mr Singh told IANS.

However, the jail administration denied the allegations and said, “Our job was to serve notice to the convicts. If we had put pressure on them, why did the other three not seek amnesty?”

Nirbhaya's parents also filed a plea seeking transfer of the case to another judge in a Delhi court. The petition also demands the court to direct the Tihar jail authorities to accelerate the execution of the convicts lodged there. In December 2018 too they had moved the court to expedite the capital punishment awarded by the Supreme Court to the convicts.

Also read: Nirbhaya’s Parents File Plea To Expedite Convicts’ Execution

On May 5, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the death penalty for the four convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape case. The four men convicted in the Delhi gangrape on December 12, 2012, had petitioned against the death penalty awarded to them by the high court in 2014. A bench headed by Justice Deepak Misra and consisting of Justices R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan heard the case.

"This is the most heinous crime of extreme brutality committed by the applicant (Vinay Sharma). This is the case where exemplary punishment should be given to deter others from committing such atrocious crimes"

On December 12, 2012, a physiotherapy student named Jyoti Singh aka Nirbhaya exited a South Delhi mall at around 10.30 in the night after watching a movie with a male friend. The male friend and Jyoti took a bus to reach home. The bus had only six people inside, including the driver and conductor, who first beat up the friend and then brutally gang-raped Jyoti in the moving bus. They, then, threw Jyoti out on the road.

Picture credit: The Hindu