Nirbhaya Case Update: The SC Has Challenged The Stay Order On The Execution. This Is So Frustrating
Ever since Jyoti Singh aka Nirbhaya succumbed to her injuries on 29th December 2012, the entire country has prayed and hoped that the monsters that were responsible for her death face consequences. Skip to seven years later, when a Delhi court finally issued a death warrant against the four remaining convicts- Vinay Sharma, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur. Now all of us optimists out there rejoiced as we thought this meant justice for Nirbhaya. But little did we know, the death warrant was a declaration of war between the legal system and the convicts and we are far from winning.
Originally, the date set for their execution was January 22nd which was pushed since Mukesh filed a mercy plea before the President of India. While he was well within his rights to do so, this meant that after it got rejected the execution for all four convicts had to be postponed 14 days according to the law. Taking that into consideration, a fresh death warrant was issued, and the date set was 1st February. Until then it was understandable that the law is the law and it must be properly followed.
But then, 1st February came and went, and those animals were still breathing all because Vinay Sharma decided to file a mercy plea at the last moment. But it does not end there, just hours after his plea got rejected by the President, the third convict Akshay Singh filed a mercy plea.
Also Read: Nirbhaya Case Update: The Convicts Continue To Evade The Noose. Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied.
Delhi High Court reserved order on Center and Tihar jail's plea challenging the trial court's order which had stayed the execution of the convicts in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case. pic.twitter.com/V2z8D0utpx
— ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2020
This is a vicious game that is being played by these convicts and their lawyers. They are deliberately filing their petitions at the fag end so that they can secure a few more days to live. This 14-day rule is there so that the convicts can meet their families and come to terms with their sentence, not so that convicts can toy with the judiciary to keep postponing their execution.
It isn’t just us who is saying this. Even the Supreme Court recognised their tactic and has challenged the trial court’s order of staying their execution. The centre represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Delhi High Court that the four convicts were, “The accused are trying the patience of the nation. Such delays will shake the faith of people in the administration of justice”.
Tushar Mehta accused the convicts of “acting in tandem” to “frustrate the very objective of the punishment”. He also said that the fourth remaining convict Pawan, was filing all kinds of petitions in court except the mercy petition.
Going by this pattern it does not take a genius to see that as soon as a fresh death warrant is issued by the court, Pawan will file his mercy plea to push it further. It works in their favour, but then again, as a civilised nation, aren’t we supposed to allow them all legal remedies? Of course, the argument is that they didn’t offer the same to Nirbhaya, but as a woman who is witnessing this constant pushing around, I am frustrated with our judicial processes. Yes, I understand that they have legal recourse and should be allowed to use it, but it feels like we are being failed and we’ve felt that way too long.
Also Read: Nirbhaya Case Update : SC Dismisses Mukesh Singh’s Claims Challenging The Rejection Of The Mercy Plea By The President
Deliberate, calculated design to frustrate mandate of law by #nirbhayaconvicts : SG to Delhi HC#NirbhayaCase https://t.co/XxgixhF3ML
— Udayavani (@udayavani_web) February 3, 2020
Rebecca John who is representing Mukesh Singh said that, “I am standing here today because even death row convicts of heinous crimes are entitled to their rights,” She further added, “The convicts are under no constitutional obligation to hasten the proceedings. You can’t condemn me for using legal remedies.”
Agreed, the convicts have all the rights but now, it’s infuriating.
Can we please find a middle ground? After what they’ve done, they do not deserve to live.
https://thehauterfly.com/lifestyle/mukhesh-singh-mercy-plea-rejected/
