New Delhi, January 30: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the curative petition filed by Akshay Kumar Singh, one of the convicts in Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case. The bench had admitted his plea a day earlier, and listed the matter for hearing today. The rejection of his curative petition comes a day after co-convict Mukesh Singh exhausted all his legal remedies. Nirbhaya Case: Convicts' Lawyer Moves Fresh Plea Before Delhi Court, Seeks Stay on February 1 Execution Date.

The apex court bench, which heard Akshay's curative plea today, found no merit in the points raised by his counsel. With the dismissal of his curative plea, the convict can file his mercy plea before President Ram Nath Kovind. As seen in the case with Mukesh, Akshay would be allowed to approach the top court again if his mercy plea is rejected.

Update by ANI

Another convict, Vinay Sharma, has also moved the apex court with his curative plea. The bench is yet to list the matter for hearing. The fourth convict, Pawan Gupta, is yet to file the curative petition. All four of the culprits in Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case are scheduled to be hanged at 6 am on February 1.

A separate petition was filed before Delhi's Patiala House Court by advocate AP Singh, on behalf of all four convicts, seeking a stay on the February 1 execution date. Singh, in his petition, claimed that the Delhi Prison rules bar the execution of one convict in the same case while the co-convicts are yet to exhaust their legal remedies.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 30, 2020 02:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).