Can file curative petitions, say Dec 16 convicts

NEW DELHI: Three out of the four death-row convicts in the December 16, 2012, gang rape case on Tuesday told the Tihar jail authorities that they want to avail legal remedies available to them before applying for mercy before the President.

Akshay, Mukesh, Vinay and Pawan were handed the capital punishment for raping and murdering of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012.

In their replies, filed through lawyer AP Singh, the convicts Pawan, Vinay and Akshay have told the prison authorities that they still have the option of filing a curative petition after the Supreme Court dismissed their review petitions. They said they cannot file a mercy petition before the President till all their legal remedies are exhausted.

A curative petition is the last legal resort available for redressal of grievances in court which is normally decided by a judge, in-chamber. It is only in rare cases that such petitions are given an open-court hearing.

The reply came on a December 18 notice by Tihar jail authorities to the convicts stating that they have seven days to file their mercy petition. Last week, a Delhi court had told the jail authorities to tell the convicts about the dismissal of their plea.

The SC had last week dismissed the review petition filed convict, Akshay Kumar Singh.

When asked why the curative petitions had not been filed so far for the convicts, advocate AP Singh said, “Financial constraints in the families of both Akshay and Vinay has hampered filing of curative petitions.”

Singh said that he would file the curative pleas for all the three after the winter vacations.