New Delhi: Vinay Sharma, a convict in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, reportedly moved a plea before the President of India seeking immediate withdrawal of his mercy petition as he never authorised it.
According to reports,Sharma, one of the four convicts, has approached the President through his counsel AP Singh claiming that the mercy plea sent to President Kovind by the Home Ministry wasn't signed by him.
Earlier, the Union Home Ministry, as well as Delhi government, recommended to the President to reject the mercy plea of Vinay Sharma, one of the convicts facing the gallows for the rape-and-murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student.
In the letter sent to the President, Singh has alleged that a conspiracy in sending the petition without his client's consent and authorisation on it and added that Sharma has not exhausted all legal remedies in the case.
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"Immediate withdrawal of mercy petition sent without authorisation, consent and signed by convict Vinay Sharma, S/o Hare Ram Sharma. Jail authorities of Jail No. 4 Central Jail, Tihar, Delhi, with a mala-fide intention and criminal conspiracy with the government of NCT of Delhi sent this false without any grounds, supporting documents, mitigating circumstances and on the basis of concealment of many important facts," the letter read.
"... Without filling curative petition before the Supreme Court of India and pendency petitioners case before the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi, the decision on juvenility, and another legal remedy in the above-said case as available in the Constitution of India, have not been exhausted till now on behalf of Vinay Sharma," continues the letter.
On Friday, Nirbhaya's mother also wrote to President Kovind demanding rejection of Sharma's mercy petition.
In the plea forwarded through the Harijan Sewak Sangh, the mother alleged that convict Vinay Sharma has been deliberately trying to avoid the death sentence and "dissemination of justice".
"The mercy petition filed by one of the convicts namely Vinay Sharma... out of three, deliberately tries to avoid the execution of death sentence and hamper the dissemination of justice," she said in the plea.
"It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that the said mercy petition is liable to be rejected," the plea added.
Nirbhaya was gang-raped on December 16, 2012. She later succumbed to her injuries. The brutality of the rape had rocked the nation leading to massive protests.
The recommendation for rejection of the mercy plea of the Nirbhaya gang rape convict came at a time when there was nationwide outrage over the gang rape and murder of a 25-year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad.
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