New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench headed by Justices Mrs R Bhanumathi on Friday deferred to Tuesday the Centre's petition challenging the Delhi High Court's verdict on Wednesday, dismissing its plea against a city court staying the execution of the four Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case convicts and ruling that all four will have to go to gallows together and not separately.
The Bench, which also included Justices Ashok Bhushan and AS Bopanna, refused Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's plea to issue notice to the four convicts to avoid further delay, saying it would decide on Tuesday whether the notice is at all required.
The Solicitor General, the second topmost lawyer of the Centre, wanted the court to lay down a law on the issue, stressing "nation's patience is being tested" because of postponement of the hanging again and again despite the apex court confirming the death sentence in 2017.
The Centre and Delhi Government have pleaded for separate hanging of the four death row convicts in case of those exhausting all remedies go to the gallows first.
The apex court fixed the hearing on Tuesday since the High Court had directed the convicts to exhaust all legal remedies by then, giving them a 7-day time limit after which the authorities would come into action for execution of the death sentence. That seems to have weighed heavily on the Bench in not issuing notices to the convicts.
