The plea of Mukesh, a convict in the Nirbhaya case, was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday, challenging the court's order dismissing the mercy petition by the President. With the dismissal of the plea, Nirbhaya's convict Mukesh is left with all options to avoid hanging. While dismissing the petition on Wednesday, the Supreme Court said in its remarks that there is no merit in this petition.
The Supreme Court while dismissing the plea said that the Delhi government had sent all the records of the convict to the President. The President has rejected the mercy petition after looking at the records. The court said that exploitation in jail cannot be the basis for challenging the mercy petition.
Opposing the petition, the central government said on Tuesday that the petition was not acceptable. The court has limited powers to review the President's right to pardon the guilty. The court reserved the verdict till Wednesday after hearing the arguments of Mukesh and the government. On the other hand, Akshay, another criminal of Nirbhaya, will file a curative petition in the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
A bench of Justices R Bhanumathi, Ashok Bhushan and S Bopanna heard the arguments of both sides for about two and a half hours on the petition. On behalf of Mukesh, senior advocate Anjana Prakash questioned the President's order dismissing the mercy petition, saying that the procedure was not followed in it. The order is passed in haste without much thought. He said that under Article 72 of the Constitution, the right to pardon the President is a constitutional responsibility. The Supreme Court may review it on some grounds. Anjana Prakash said that according to information received under the Right to Information (RTI) from the Jail Authority, Mukesh's DNA report was not presented to the President, which proves that he was not involved in the rape.
