Nirbhaya convicts looking to file mercy, curative petitions as last resort

According to the reply filed in response to a notice issued to them last week, the convicts have said that although the Supreme Court has rejected their review petition but they are still left with the option of filing a curative petition.

A curative petition is the last legal recourse available to a convict and it is generally considered in-chamber.

The authorities had issued a notice to the convicts of the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case on December 18 to file mercy petition within seven days.

The authorities had informed the four convicts that they have seven days to file the mercy petition.

"If the convicts do not file mercy petition within the given time, then we will submit the report to the concerned court," a senior jail official said.

On December 18, the Patiala House court adjourned for January 7 the hearing on the issuance of death warrants against the convicts in the December 16, 2012 case.

The city court gave a week's time to know whether the four convicts are filing mercy petitions, hours after the Supreme Court dismissed the last review plea against the capital punishment.

The paramedic student was raped on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012, inside a running bus in south Delhi by six persons and severely assaulted before being thrown out on the road.

She died on December 29, 2012, at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she was airlifted from Delhi for treatment.