FRESH DEC 16 DEATH WARRANT OUT FOR 6AM ON MARCH 3

NEW DELHI: Four convicts guilty of gang-raping and murdering a paramedical student on a moving bus in Delhi will hang at 6am on March 3, a Delhi court said on Monday, issuing for the third time a death warrant in the sensational case. But convict Pawan Gupta can still file a curative petition in the Supreme Court and a mercy plea before the President. His lawyer said Gupta intends to avail the legal remedies.

NEWDELHI: Four convicts guilty of gang-raping and murdering a paramedical student on a moving bus in Delhi on December 16, 2012, will hang at 6am on March 3, a Delhi court said on Monday, issuing for the third time a death warrant in the sensational case that triggered countrywide protests.

Deferring the date of execution any further will be “sacrilegious to the rights of the victim for expeditious justice”, additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana said. The previous black warrants, issued on January 22 and February 1, were stayed as convicts Mukesh Kumar (33), Vinay Sharma (27), Akshay Thakur (33) and Pawan Gupta (25) argued in courts that they were yet to exhaust all legal remedies.

“... (the convicts will be) hanged by the neck until they are dead on March 3 at 6 am,” the judge said. A section of the people present in the courtroom clapped as he pronounced the order.

Asha Devi, the paramedic’s mother, said her family had “struggled” to get justice and hoped that the black warrant won’t be stayed. “...I am satisfied that the death warrant has been issued finally. We have complete faith in the judiciary. But our real victory would be when the convicts are actually hanged,” she said. Asha Devi has previously accused the four men and their lawyers of using delaying tactics to defer the executions.

Badrinath Singh, the victim’s father, said: “We were agitated on several occasions because the death warrant was not issued. The Delhi high court granted (on February 5) all the convicts a week’s time to avail legal remedies...we are now satisfied that the warrants have been issued and the convicts would finally face the gallows.”

Protesting outside the court, the family members of the convicts said the death sentence should be commuted. While Vinay Sharma’s mother said hanging will not ensure that such crimes will not take place again, Mukesh Kumar’s mother pleaded for mercy with folded hands.

Appearing for the state in the courtroom, public prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said a death warrant can be issued against the convicts since no plea, application or appeal is pending in the court of law. He said the mercy petitions of three of the convicts— Akshay Thakur, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Kumar — have already been rejected. But convict Pawan Gupta can still file a curative petition in Supreme Court and a mercy plea before the President. Ravi Qazi, his lawyer, said Pawan Gupta intends to avail of the legal remedies but “was not aware of the seven days’ time frame” granted to the convicts by the high court.

Advocate AP Singh, appearing for two of the convicts, told the court that his client, Vinay Sharma, is suffering from mental illness and he should not be hanged. However, the court rejected his contention.

Singh said he will file a fresh mercy plea for Akshay as the earlier one did not have the records of his financial status. However, the court said mere preparation of a fresh mercy petition cannot be ground to defer the execution.