The Patiala House court today (17 January, 2020) today issued fresh death warrants for the Nirbhaya convicts fixing February 1, 2020 as the date of hanging. They’ll be executed at 6 am in the morning.

The court at 2pm today heard Mukesh Kumar’s plea to extend the date of death warrant execution of the convict in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case. He wanted to file a mercy petition before the president. The Court on Thursday (January 16, 2020) had directed Tihar jail authorities to file a proper report by today about the status of the scheduled execution of convicts. It had observed that there is a possibility that the execution may get delayed and therefore a new death warrant would have to be issued once the Tihar jail administration submits a fresh report.

The High Court of Delhi on 15 January, 2020, dismissed Mukesh Kumar’s plea against death warrant as it was required to be filed before the competent sessions court. There is no error in the order of the Trial Court issuing the death warrant against the convicts, the High Court had said. 

Delhi High Court Advocate Rahul Mehra on January 15, 2020 had contended before the Delhi High Court that Nirbhaya convicts cannot be hanged on 22 January, 2020 mercy petition pending before the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind. Execution of Death Sentence according to law is only carried out 14 days after the dismissal of a mercy petition.The four convicts gang-raped and murdered a 23 year old woman in a moving bus in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. The paramedic student was raped on the intervening night of December 16, 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.