Nirbhaya convicts to be hanged Friday; Delhi court dismisses their plea seeking stay on execution
New Delhi, Mar 19 : The four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case are set to be hanged early Friday morning with a Delhi court clearing the decks for their execution by dismissing a plea seeking a stay on it.
Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana on Thursday refused to grant any relief to Akshay Kumar, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh and rejected the petition saying no valid ground has been brought to his notice to justify the stay of execution of death warrants scheduled on March 20 at 5:30 AM.
“I am of the considered opinion that the application is bereft of merits. No valid ground has been brought to my notice to justify the stay of execution of death warrants. The application is accordingly dismissed,” the judge said.
Interestingly, the judge, in his order, also took note of the considerable time consumed by the judiciary in the case and addressed the doubts that have been lingering in the minds of some people on the efficacy of the rule of law.
The court said the resilience of law signified the inherent safeguards against human errors and not the weakness of law.
“When would the convicts meet the creator for their eternal penitence? The issue has been pestering the conscience of the community for past some time. The time consumed by the process of law has even led some diffident voices to timorously question the very efficacy of ‘rule of law’.
“Let me inform all the suspecting souls that in this great land of Gautam Buddha and Gandhi, rule of law and not impetuous mob mentality, decides the fate of even the most wretched criminals and most abominable crimes. The resilience of law signifies the inherent safeguards against human errors and not the weakness of law,” the judge said.
After the pronouncement of the order, Nirbhaya’s mother said her daughter’s soul will now rest in peace and she had got justice seven years after the gruesome gangrape and murder that shook the nation.
“Finally the convicts will be hanged. Now I will get peace,” Asha Devi told PTI.
