Just a day before the four members, Mukesh, Pawan Gupta, Akshay Kumar Singh and Vinay Sharma were to be hanged, a court in Delhi has deferred the execution of the Nirbhaya rape case convicts. Interestingly, President Ram Nath Kovind had only minutes ago rejected the mercy plea of one the Nirbhaya convicts Pawan Kumar Gupta.
Also, the Patiala House court too had dismissed the pleas of two Nirbhaya convicts, Pawan and Akshay who had sought a stay on their execution.
Early Monday morning, the Supreme Court had dismissed a curative petition filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta who was sentenced to death in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.
Meanwhile, Asha Devi, Nirbhaya's mother said the convicts on death row were misleading the courts. However, she said that she had faith in the judiciary.
Supreme Court no to organ donation of Nirbhaya convicts
The Supreme Court Monday dismissed the petition filed by a former high court judge seeking a direction to Tihar jail authorities here to give an option to four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case to offer their bodies for medical research and donate their organs.
“By way of PIL you can't seek such direction. If they (convicts) want to do it they can express such things by themselves or through their family members,” said a bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna.
When the counsel for petitioner — Justice (Retd) Michael F Saldanna, former judge of the Bombay High Court — continued with the submission, the bench said the petition by a former judge was “misconceived”.
“To execute a person is the saddest part for the family. You (petitioner) want their body to cut into pieces,” the bench said, adding that “have some human approach.”
“Organ donation has to be voluntary,” it further said.
The petitioner had asked the apex court to consider the “desirability of making it as a condition precedent in the case of all executions”.
