Meenakshi Lekhi slams Delhi government for delaying Nirbhaya case

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi slammed the Delhi government for delaying the Nirbhaya case for three years. She accused AAP of lying. The leader also explained the span of control by the Centre and the State government over the various institutions in the country.  

Meenakshi Lekhi slams Delhi Govt 

Talking about how the AAP government has delayed the Nirbhaya case, Meenakshi Lekhi said, “They (AAP) are lying, you can see the difference between saying and doing things here. The law and judiciary is always monitored by the State government. Centre has control over police and investigations in Delhi. However, once the issue goes to the trial court, everything works according to the Delhi government.”  

“Everything starting from the police to investigations have ended within four years. The Delhi government has been sitting on files and delaying the case for the last three years. They only gave sanctions for the Nirbhaya case after Hyderabad incident took place,” she added. 

Read: AAP blames BJP for delay in hanging Nirbhaya rapists, say 'we rejected mercy plea quickly'

Delhi HC rejects plea 

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday declined to entertain Mukesh Singh's plea against the death warrant issued by a trial court and gave him the liberty to challenge it in the sessions court. A bench of Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said that there was no error in the trial court's January 7 order issuing the death warrant against him. The Delhi government informed the High Court during the hearing that execution of the convicts will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea has been filed by one of them - Mukesh Singh. 

Read: NCW Chief Condemns Delhi Govt's 'delaying Tactics' In Hanging Of Nirbhaya Case Convicts

The four convicts - Mukesh (32) Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) - were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. The Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.  

Delhi High Court on Wednesday rejected the mercy petition. Rejecting the plea, Justice Manmohan said, "The petition filed is a strategy to prolong the matter. The convicts purposely delayed the death sentence by not exhausting their legal remedies." 

Read: BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi criticises Delhi govt's delay tactics in hanging Nirbhaya rapists

The High Court said that it is found no flaw in the death warrants issued by the Additional Sessions Judge of Patiala House court for the hanging of the four rapists on January 22, 7 AM. The High Court's statement comes even as the State Government led by Arvind Kejriwal said that the four rapists will not be held on January 22, citing the mercy petition by Mukesh Kumar, one of the accused. 

The High Court's statement comes even as the State government led by Arvind Kejriwal said that the four rapists will not be held on January 22, the four convicts- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31), and Pawan Gupta (25) are to be executed on January 22 at 7 AM in Tihar jail. 

Read: Nirbhaya case: Prakash Javedekar slams Delhi government for delay in hanging rapists