A Delhi court on Wednesday offered Pawan Gupta, one of the four death row convicts in the December 16, 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, an advocate, noting that a condemned convict is entitled to legal aid.
Additional sessions judge Dharmender Rana adjourned the hearing for Thursday and told Pawan, who has removed his lawyer, that he could choose from a list of empanelled advocates to represent him in the case.
Nirbhaya’s parents and the Delhi government on Tuesday moved the court seeking fresh death warrants for the four convicts after the Supreme Court granted liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of a fresh date for the execution of these convicts.
The trial court had on January 31 stayed the execution of the four convicts — Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31).
Except Pawan, all convicts have exhausted their legal remedy available to file a curative petition before the Supreme Court. The President has also rejected the mercy pleas of Mukesh, Akshay and Vinay.
On December 16, 2012, the paramedical student was gangraped and brutally assaulted by six men in a private bus and thrown out of the moving vehicle along with her male friend. The victims later died of their injuries.
The four convicts have since been sentenced to death by a local court. The order has been upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court.
