Nirbhaya Gangrape Case: Delhi Court defers execution of four convicts till further order

New Delhi : Hours before they were to be hanged, the four convicts in Nirbhaya Gangrape Case got some relief as Delhi court deferred their execution till further orders.

The four convicts - Pawan Gupta, Mukesh Singh, Akshay Singh and Vinay Sharma – will not be hanged until further orders. Their execution was earlier delayed due to legal obligations after filing curative and mercy petition.

"The death warrant has been cancelled and no new date has been given," said the lawyer of one of the convicts, AP Singh.

Nirbhaya's mother wept as she said that a convict's lawyer had "challenged" her in court. "He challenged me...he said there would be no hanging," she told reporters after an excruciating day waiting in courts.

Taking advantage of the legal system obligations, the convicts filed several petitions to stall their hanging in the matter.

A new petition was filed today before the Supreme Court and rejected. Pawan Gupta's claim of being a minor at the time of the 2012 gang-rape and killing was dismissed by the Supreme Court for the second time in two weeks. He had asked the court to review its decision last week, even though he had been told that once rejected, an age claim cannot be contested repeatedly.

But it is the mercy petition filed by convict Vinay Sharma that secured today's reprieve. Even if the President rejects it today, the convict has to be given 14 days till execution, under the rules.