Nirbhaya: SC dismisses plea of death row convict against dismissal of mercy plea

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the plea by Mukesh Kumar Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case, challenging the rejection of his mercy petition by the President.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice R Banumathi said that expeditious disposal of mercy plea by the President doesn't mean non-application of mind by him.

The bench said all relevant material including judgements pronounced by trial court, high court and Supreme Court were placed before the President when he was considering the mercy plea of the convict.

The court also said that alleged sufferings in prison can't be grounds to challenge the rejection of mercy petition.