Nirbhaya convict's lawyer to exploring option to file curative plea

Convict Mukesh Kumar's lawyer said that he is examining the option of first filing a curative petition against the apex court order on July 9 last year by which it dismissed his review petition.

"The question of filing the mercy petition will arise only after I exhaust the remedy of curative petition," advocate ML Sharma told PTI.

Curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a person and it is generally considered in-chamber.

Sharma said he is closely watching the developments taking place at different fora relating to the Nirbhaya case.

The statement by the lawyer came soon after the apex court dismissed the plea filed by Akshay Kumar Singh, another convict, seeking review of its 2017 judgement upholding his death penalty.

Separately, a Delhi court directed Tihar jail authorities to seek response within a week from the four convicts whether they are filing mercy pleas against their executions with the President of India.

On July 9 last year, the apex court had dismissed the review pleas filed by three convicts -- Mukesh (30), Pawan Gupta (23) and Vinay Sharma (24) -- in the case, saying no grounds have been made out by them for review of the 2017 verdict.