Manish Sisodia was not a minister when he rejected Nirbhaya convict mercy plea, says lawyer; moves Election Commission

In one of the final attempts to delay the execution of the four convicts of the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, scheduled on March 3, convict Vinay Sharma’s lawyer A P Singh has moved the Election Commission against the Delhi government's move to reject Sharma's mercy plea.

Questioning the timing of the rejection of his mercy plea, Singh has stated that the mercy plea was rejected when the Model Code of Conduct was in effect in Delhi, owing to Assembly Election. This makes Manish Sisodia disqualified to dismiss the plea, he has claimed.

Also read — Nirbhaya: Court seeks Tihar jail authorities' reply on convict Vinay's plea for medical treatment

"We have filed a complaint in the Election Commission of India because the mercy petition of Vinay Sharma reached the Delhi government on January 30. At that time the government recommended the rejection. He was not an MLA or Home Minister of Delhi government because the Model Code of Conduct was imposed," AP Singh told ANI.

Singh has further argued that a digital signature of Sisodia received via WhatsApp was used to dismiss the mercy plea. "I want that the pride of the Election Commission, President, Supreme Court and Home Ministry shouldn't be destroyed in this way,” the lawyer said.

He added that the Home Minister of Delhi was not in power at the time when the mercy plea and he recommendation to reject it was forwarded to the President of India.

"The mercy petition was not supposed to be forwarded to the President of India at the time as the elections were scheduled for February 8. Therefore, the mercy petition could not have been rejected," he added.

Singh has urged the Election Commission to take cognizance of the issue.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Sharma injured himself by banging his head against a wall of his cell in Tihar Jail. He received minor injuries and was treated inside the prison premises.