The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved order for tomorrow 2 pm, on the issue of rejection of the death row convict Vinay Kumar Sharma’s mercy petition by President Kovind.
The Nirbhaya case death-row convict had petitioned to peruse recommendation for rejection of his mercy plea. Sharma’s counsel alleged in the court that the Delhi lieutenant governor and its home minister had not signed the recommendation for rejection of his mercy plea.
However, a bench of Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and A S Bopanna perused the record and said the LG and the home minister indeed signed the recommendation for rejection of his mercy petition.
Sharma, through advocate A P singh, moved the apex court on Tuesday challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the president. He claimed the “hurried rejection” was “mala fide” and violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
“The social investigation report, medical status report, and nominal role of the petitioner Vinay Sharma has not been taken into consideration by the President while rejecting the mercy petition”, Singh argued before the Supreme Court.
“Vinay Sharma was kept in illegal confinement. He was illegally tortured in Tihar jail prison. I am here only to seek justice, where can I go for justice? That is why I am pleading here before this SC for justice,” he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta however countered Singh’s statements.
“He (Vinay Sharma) was not kept in solitary confinement, as argued by advocate AP Singh. There is limited scope of judicial review, as the President of India had rejected the mercy petition after duly considering and applying his mind,” Mehta said.
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On Tuesday, convict Vinay Sharma had challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by the president in the Supreme Court. The same day, the top court sought a response from the four convicts on Centre’s appeal against a Delhi High Court verdict refusing to set aside the stay on their execution.
The top court, however, granted liberty to authorities to obtain a fresh date for execution of the death warrants from the trial court, saying pendency of Centre’s and Delhi government’s appeals before it “will not be an impediment”.
Gupta is the only convict who has not filed a curative petition – the last legal remedy available to a person. He also has the option of filing a mercy plea against the death sentence.
The trial court has stayed “till further orders” the execution of the convicts – Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Gupta (25), Sharma (26) and Akshay (31). Two death warrants have been stayed so far in the case.
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On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern, who later came to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ (fearless), was gangraped and savagely assaulted in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died after a fortnight.
Six people, including the four convicts and a juvenile, were named as accused. Ram Singh, the sixth person, allegedly committed suicide in Tihar jail days after the trial began.
The juvenile was released in 2015 after spending three years in a correctional home.
(With inputs from agencies)