SC not to interfere in 4 Nirbhaya convicts’ hanging

Apparently not interfering in the hanging of the four Nirbhaya convicts ordered by a Delhi court on March 3, the Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned to March 5 the Centre’s plea against Delhi High Court’s February 5 order that all convicts in the case should be executed together and not separately.

When told by the Centre’s counsel on the Patiala House court ordering execution of the convicts on March 3, the Bench of Justices Mrs R Banumathi and Justices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna immediately said: “Then we will simply adjourn it. We will hear it on March 5 at 3 pm.”

The Bench had earlier also said that it hearing the Centre’s plea should not come in the way of the trial court deciding the executions.

The High Court had observed that Delhi prison rules didn’t state that if a mercy petition of one convict is pending, the execution of the other convicts can take place or not and hence ruled that the convicts will be executed together since all orders right from the lowest court to the top court were passed together in case of these convicts.

However, there is still no clarity whether the convicts will be hanged on March 3 as no submissions or comments were made in the court regarding the hanging except for the fact that the counsel just appraised the SC about lower courts order.

Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Feb 14 had ordered that all the four deathrow convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case be hanged on March 3 at 6 am.