Nirbhaya Case: Supreme Court Rejects Mukesh Singh’s Petition; Says Suffering in Prison Can’t be Ground For Mercy

So far, the curative petitions filed by two convicts  — Vinay and Mukesh — in the case have already been dismissed by the apex court. A curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a person in a court of law.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday has rejected the plea of Mukesh Singh — one of the four convicts of 2012’s Nirbhaya gangrape case. In his plea, Mukesh Singh had challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by President Ram Nath Kovind. The three-judge bench comprising Justices R Banumathi, Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna said that relevant records, the verdict of the trial court, HC and apex court in Nirbhaya case were placed by MHA before President. “It can’t be said that the President didn’t apply his mind. Suffering in prison can’t be ground for mercy plea,” the bench said.

Meanwhile, another convict, Akshay Kumar, has filed a curative plea on Wednesday and the apex court registry has sought some more documents along with the petition. “I have approached the SC registry with curative petition today. The registry has asked me to file some additional documents along with the petition and I am in the process of completing the formalities,” Singh told PTI.

So far, the curative petitions filed by two convicts  — Vinay and Mukesh — in the case have already been dismissed by the apex court. A curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a person in a court of law.

Mukesh’s lawyer, Anjana Prakash, alleged on Tuesday that Mukesh was being sexually assaulted in jail.

The four convicts were scheduled to be executed on January 22. It was delated as Mukesh filed a mercy plea with the President. As per prison rules, a death row convict can only be hanged 14 days after the rejection of his mercy petition. The four were scheduled to be executed at 6 AM on February 1. However, Akshay’s mercy plea puts a question mark.