New Delhi, February 1: The Delhi High court on Saturday issued notices to four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The notices were issued by the court while hearing a plea filed by Tihar Jail authorities against the trial court's order of staying the execution of the convicts. The Delhi HC will now hear the matter on Sunday. Nirbhaya Gangrape And Murder Case: Tihar Jail Performs Dummy Execution Ahead of February 1 Hanging.

On Friday, the trial court stayed the execution of the four convicts until further notice. Convicts’ lawyer AP Singh citing rule 836 of prison manual which told the trial court that in a case where more than one person has been rewarded death penalty, the execution could not take place till all convicts have exhausted all legal options. Nirbhaya Case: Tihar Jail Challenges Stay on Execution of Four Convicts in Delhi High Court.

Four convicts in Nirbhaya Case— Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, and Vinay Kumar Sharma were earlier scheduled to be hanged on February 1. As the President Ram Nath Kovind’s decision on Vinay’s mercy petition was pending till yesterday, the execution was postponed. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal Expresses 'Sadness' Over Delay in Execution of Nirbhaya Rape And Murder Convicts.

Earlier in the day, the President rejected Vinay’s mercy petition. On January 7, the Patiala House Court issued a death warrant against four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case. However, their hanging was postponed to February 1, as President rejected Mukesh’s mercy petition on January 17. As per procedure, the convicts must be served with a 14-day execution notice after their mercy plea is rejected by the President.

Meanwhile, two convicts – Akshay and Pawan are yet to file the mercy petition. The case is related to the gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student on December 16, 2012. Initially, six people were arrested. However, one of the accused was a minor and appeared before a juvenile justice court, while another accused committed suicide in Tihar Jail.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2020 08:45 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).