Nirbhaya's lawyer Seema Kushwaha on Monday said that the Supreme Court on Monday dismissal of a Special Leave Petition filed by convict Pawar Kumar Gupta in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case indicated that a clear message has been sent to the apex court that the convicts were using "delay tactics" for the process of their execution.
"A clear message has been sent to the Supreme Court that they are using delay tactics. One by one, they are failing. The February 1 execution date has not been stayed or postponed. We are still hoping that they will be executed on that date," advocate Kushwaha told .
A Delhi court issued a fresh death warrant against the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya rape case, who will now be executed on February 1 at 6 am.
The advocate said that the Indian judiciary is liberal even toward the convicts.
"However, many people are claiming they such orders are being given due to media and other pressures. Their review petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court. Then, they filed a curative plea. And now, they are claiming juvenility in their special leave petition (SLP), a matter which was heard in the trial court, High Court and the Supreme Court," Kushwaha said.
"The Supreme Court has an inherent power under Article 142 of the constitution to take suo moto cognizance of the matter since they (convicts' side) are using delay tactics. They are misusing the rights they don't even have and the law," she added.
Earlier today, the Supreme Court dismissed the SLP filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta in the 2012 Delhi gang-rape case as it did not find any "fresh ground in the matter".
Pawan has claimed that he was a juvenile at the time of the crime, and the Delhi High Court had ignored this fact.
Four convicts, Vinay, Akshay, Pawan, and Mukesh were convicted and sentenced to death for raping a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in the national capital on the intervening night of December 16-17, 2012.
( With inputs from ANI )