Centre's petition in SC on legal question doesn't affect Convicts' hanging: Nirbhaya's Lawyer

On Tuesday, Lawyer Seema Kushwaha, representing the victim's side in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape & murder case, said that the Central Govt's plea being adjourned till March 5 has no impact on the execution of the convicts in the matter.

Earlier today, the Apex Court adjourned till March 5 hearing in the plea filed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs seeking to execute the convicts in the Nirbhaya case separately.

Kushwaha told the news agency that "The petition filed by Union Ministry of Home Affairs has been adjourned till March 5. The petition has no impact on the hanging as it is concerned with the question of law".

The delay tactics employed by the convicts in the matter have raised a legal question, she said.

She added that "The convicts were taking advantage of the loopholes in the law. They were moving all their legal remedies separately. Their delay tactics have raised a legal question".

On the other hand, Lawyer AP Singh who is representing the death row convicts in the matter has alleged that the hanging of the convicts can't be carried out when a plea in the matter is pending.

AP Singh told news agency that "The execution of the convicts cannot take place on March 3 since the petition is scheduled to be heard on March 5. A person cannot be executed when a plea in their case is pending before any court".

The Centre had moved the Supreme Court after the High Court of  Delhi had rejected its plea & observed that the death warrant of all convicts in the case should be executed together.

The case pertains to the brutal gangrape & killing of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by 6 people including a juvenile in Delhi. The woman had died at a Singapore hospital a few days later.

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