New Delhi: The four convicts in the 16 December 2012 Delhi gang-rape case could be executed individually, ThePrint has learnt.
While it is certain that convict Vinay Sharma will not be hanged on 1 February, the other three — Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh and Akshay Thakur — could still be executed on the scheduled date, sources in Tihar jail said. A hangman, also named Pawan, who is set to carry out the executions, has already reported to the prison authorities, the sources said.
According to prison rules, Vinay cannot be hanged as his mercy plea is still pending with the President of India. Even if the plea is rejected, Vinay would still get 14 days between the date of rejection and the hanging.
Akshay, whose curative petition was rejected Wednesday by the Supreme Court, still has the option to file a mercy plea, which will again give him 14 days’ grace.
Convict Pawan is the only one of the four who hasn’t filed either curative or mercy petitions, so he has options to delay his execution.
But Mukesh could be hanged first, as he has exhausted all his legal options, Tihar authorities told ThePrint, though they may decide against it as it could have an “adverse psychological impact” on the other three.
Also read: 16 December gangrape convicts to hang on 1 February, Delhi court criticises ‘delay tactics’
What the rules say
According to the prison manual, if the death sentence has been given to more than one person in the same case, and if an appeal or an application is made by even one, then the execution of the sentence shall be postponed in the case of all convicts.
“The rules say that in such circumstances, the execution will be postponed for all convicts and not just for the one who has filed the appeal. That is because they are all convicted for the same crime,” former Tihar law officer Sunil Gupta said.
A Tihar official, however, explained that the word “application” in the rules is for the review petition to be filed in the Supreme Court, and not for a mercy petition.
Vinay, Pawan and Mukesh’s review petitions were dismissed by the Supreme Court in July 2018. Akshay filed his review plea in December 2019, which was dismissed immediately.
“Technically, in this context, the application mentioned in the rule is restricted to an appeal in the Supreme Court. In this case, that has been rejected for all. So, the hanging can certainly happen one by one, as and when their case is decided,” this official said.
Also read: How 16 December gang-rape convicts are making last-ditch attempts to escape the noose
Tihar to take final call
Tihar authorities are now grappling with whether to execute Mukesh, Pawan and Akshay (if the latter two do not file the mercy plea), or wait for a decision for Vinay.
According to a source, a meeting is set to be held on the issue.
“Taking into consideration the fact that hanging one person may have a psychological effect on the other three, we may take a call to wait till the case of others is decided,” a second source told ThePrint.
“Nothing, however, stops Tihar from hanging Mukesh. The decision will be taken in accordance with further developments. There is still a day to go,” this source said.
Also read: 5 key steps Tihar Jail will take to hang 16 December gangrape convicts
For heavens sake enough of drama and delays. Let Tihar authorities take the call and hang all of them.
Whole country will support it.
Hang those killers
Hang them high…..So all wanna be rapists get their nuts chopped off
It should be pointed out that “curative” appeal is something a new judge in the Supreme Court dreamed up just a few year ago. It is as if there weren’t enough roadblocks already! The curative appeal has no basis in law. It is simply the Supreme Court second guessing its own earlier decision. In fact, that earlier decision is in itself arrived at only after multiple lower court decisions. The review of the mercy petition is even more extreme. It is a gross abuse of their power to say that they can override the president’s decision even after they themselves has upheld the death sentence.
What most people don’t realize is that the Supreme Court and the bar association are elites, totally disconnected from the victims and their families. They are activists with political agendas that mirror the demands of Marxist and other left wing organizations. Their extremist views have no chance of winning in the electoral domain, so what we have is a judiciary and a bar association that have systematically destroyed the legal system.
Oh so well said… Hats off… The self-righteous judges who conjure up these legal devices are sitting in their ivory towers knowing very well that nothing remotely similar to what happened to the victims will happen to their umpteen future generations. This sense of comfort is so ingrained in their DNA that they are fully convinced that what they do is what is good for the country.
Enough!
Hang them one by one.
Let them sweat while they wait their turn.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Enough! Just get on with it!