President rejects mercy plea of Nirbhaya case convict Mukesh Singh

The rejection came soon after the Union Home Ministry forwarded the petition to the President.

January 17, 2020 12:35 pm | Updated November 28, 2021 11:47 am IST - New Delhi

Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case. File

Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya case. File

President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected the mercy petition of 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape, murder convict Mukesh Singh.

Singh, along with three others, is on death row and is lodged in an isolated ward at the Tihar jail. A court had fixed the hanging on January 22.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) forwarded the petition to the President on Thursday night, recommending that it be rejected and the President concurred with the suggestion.

Singh had filed the mercy petition a few days ago.

The Delhi Lieutenant Governor had sent the mercy petition to the MHA on Thursday, a day after the State government recommended its rejection.

Mukesh Singh (32), Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 a.m. in Tihar Jail. A Delhi court issued their death warrants on January 7.

However, the Delhi government informed the High Court during a hearing that the execution of the convicts will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea had been filed by Mukesh.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.