Fresh Death Warrants were issued by a Delhi Court today morning, scheduling the hanging of the four Nirbhaya death row convicts on March 3, at 6am.  The fresh warrants were passed by Additional Session Judge Dharmender Rana, against the four sane adults – Akshay Kumar, 31; Mukesh Kumar Singh, 32; Pawan Gupta, 25 and Vinay Kumar Sharma, 26.

This was done when the Court was hearing the applications by Nirbhaya’s parents and Delhi government, seeking fresh death warrants against the convicts after the apex court gave liberty to the authorities to approach the trial court for issuance of fresh execution date.

With the first date of execution of the convicts being scheduled to January 22, this is the third time that the hanging has been scheduled, as the convicts had not exhausted all their legal remedies.

During the proceedings today morning, one of the convicts Mukesh told the court that he does not need the services of his current advocate Vrinda Grover, post which the court appointed Ravi Qazi to represent him. This was done last Thursday, after Mukesh refused to chose a lawyer offered by the Delhi Legal Services Authority (DLSA).

Another convict, Vinay, who is said to be suffering from mental injuries and was assaulted in jail, was asked to be excluded from death sentence, by his lawyer.  The court directed the Tihar Jail superintendents to take appropriate care of Vinay as per law.

Pawan, the only convict who has not yet filed the curative petition and the mercy plea, has now, through his counsel, approached the court saying that he wanted to move a curative petition before the Supreme Court and the mercy plea to the President.

Akshay’s lawyer informed the court that he has prepared a fresh mercy petition to be moved before the President.           

Ram Singh, the other accused had committed suicide while in jail, way back in 2013, days after the trial commenced. The juvenile who was the most brutal of the attackers was put in correctional home for three years and then moved to an undisclosed location after his release in 2015.  The death sentence was passed in September 2013, after which the challenge in higher courts is still continuing.