Nirbhaya rape & murder: Tihar issues notice to rapists to file mercy petition in 7 days

After the Supreme Court rejected Nirbhaya convict Akshay Kumar Singh’s mercy plea on Wednesday, the Tihar jail administration issued a notice to him and the other three convicts. The notice stated that the convicts have a seven-day time to file a mercy petition in the court. After all the four mercy petitions filed by the convicts in Nirbhaya case have been rejected by the court, the last option left with them is to file a curative petition. 

SC rejects Akshay Kumar Singh’s plea 

The final plea filed by the fourth convict in the case, Akshay Singh was rejected by SC on Wednesday. Justice R Banumathi while pronouncing the order in a jam-packed courtroom said, “We don't find any merit in the review petition. We dismiss it accordingly."  

Read: Nirbhaya's parents hope for justice ahead of SC's hearing on convict's mercy plea

The three-judge bench hearing the case was headed by Justice R Banumathi and included Justices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna. "Considering the submissions, we have said that the petitioner has sought to assail the facts yet again which can't be done at this stage. We have given due consideration to grounds. Accordingly, at this stage, we dismiss the review petition," the order authored by Justice R Banumathi stated. 

Read: Supreme Court sets up a new bench to hear Nirbhaya convict's plea

Identical petitions 

The judge-bench observed that the petition filed by Akshay Singh was identical to the three petitions filed by other convicts earlier. The SC also observed that a few absurd things were written in the mercy plea of the convict. The plea stated that Akshay Singh seeks clemency on the ground of "rising pollution", as it has already increased the mortality rates. He also sought a commutation of the death penalty awarded to him and three others. 

Read: Nirbhaya Case: "We support live telecast of death sentence," says mother Asha Devi

Apart from Akshay, the other convicts guilty of the crime are Mukesh, Vinay and Pawan. These four men have been convicted for the rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012. The girl, who was later named Nirbhaya, succumbed of injuries a few days later. Two more persons, including prime accused Ram Singh, were also accused of committing the crime. Singh, however, committed suicide in the Tihar jail during the trial of the case. Another accused was a minor at the time of the commission of the crime and was sent to a reform facility. 

Read: Nirbhaya's mother 'happy' as SC rejects convict's review plea, hopes for quick justice