The Delhi government has recommended rejecting the mercy petition filed by one of the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case. The mercy petition was filed by Mukesh Singh on Tuesday moments after the Supreme Court rejected a curative petition filed by him.

A curative petition is the last judicial remedy available to a person convicted by courts of law. If rejected, convicts are left with the option of seeking mercy from the President. Mukesh Singh availed of his right and moved a mercy plea Tuesday evening.

The recommendation has been sent to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who will base his recommendation on the Delhi government's advice. Baijal's recommendation will then be sent to the Union Ministry for Home Affairs, which in turn will form its own recommendation and forward that to the President.

President Ram Nath will ultimately make the decision of whether or not to grant Mukesh mercy.

Mukesh (32), along with Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25), was convicted for the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student in Delhi. The woman, who came to be referred to as Nirbhaya, was gang-raped and assaulted on the night of December 16, 2012, in a moving bus in South Delhi. She died on December 29 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

A total of six people were made accused in the gang-rape and murder case. Apart from four named above, a fifth man Ram Singh committed suicide in jail while the sixth, a juvenile, was convicted by the juvenile justice board and released from a reformation home after serving a three-year term.

Mukesh, Vinay, Akshay and Pawan were all convicted and sentenced to death. The capital punishments to the four were upheld by the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. The four moved review petitions in the Supreme Court, which were rejected.

Source: India Today