NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Monday issued a third death warrant for the four men- convicted of rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic- for their hanging on March 3 at 6 am. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana in his order noted that the criminal appeal of the convicts was dismissed by the Supreme Court on May 5, 2017 and despite a lapse of 33 months, convict Pawan opted neither to file any curative petition, nor any mercy petition.
“Pawan is the only one among the four convicts who has not yet filed the curative petition, the last legal remedy available to a person, which is decided in-chamber. He has not filed the mercy plea either. There are only two possible inferences for such indolence: either convict Pawan is satisfied with the verdict of the Supreme Court or he is simply interested in merely delaying the court proceedings. In either case, he cannot claim that the execution of the sentence needs to be delayed further,” the judge said.
He added that the Delhi High Court had given one more opportunity to Pawan, unambiguously clarifying to exercise his rights within a week, failing which requisite action shall be initiated without any further delay. “Convict Pawan cannot be permitted to defeat the ends of justice by simply opting to remain indolent,” it said.
During the hearing, advocate AP Singh, the lawyer for the convicts, informed the court that one of them, Vinay Sharma, is on hunger strike in Tihar jail since February 11.