[1]NEW DELHI : Surinder Koli, convicted of killing young children in Nithari near Delhi nearly a decade ago, will not be hanged this week. An order passed by the Supreme Court at 1.30 am last night has put off his execution by at least a week.Justice HL Dattu, who has been appointed Chief Justice of India, passed the late night order from home, on a petition by Koli’s lawyer Indira Jaising seeking review of his death sentence.In a week, Koli’s petition could be the first to be heard in an open court by three judges.
Koli was to be hanged on September 12 in Meerut jail, where he has been kept in a high-security barrack. The bench comprising justices HL Dattu and AR Dave stayed the execution for a period of one week. An official of the apex court said that the plea in this regard was mentioned before the bench after midnight and the order was passed at 1:40 am The official said the order has been communicated to the jail authorities concerned. The application on behalf of 42-year-old Koli was moved by a team of lawyers led by senior advocate Indira Jaising.
The lawyers sought review of the apex court’s July 24, 2014 order dismissing the plea to stay the execution of death sentence awarded to Nithari rapist-cum-serial killer Koli. While seeking stay of execution of the capital punishment, Jaising, along with advocate Yug Choudhary and others, referred to the September 2 verdict of the apex court in which it had held that the review plea of condemned prisoners must be given an open court hearing.
In the order passed in the wee hours today, the bench said, “An application to review the order passed on July 24, 2014 in review petition (of Koli) is placed before us on September 8, 2014. In the application it is stated that execution of death warrant will take place at 5:30 AM on Monday, September 8, 2014. “For recalling and review of our order, the applicant (Koli) relies upon observation made by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the matter in which the verdict was passed on September 2, 2014,” it said. The court said, “Considering the urgency of the matter, we stay the execution of the death sentence of applicant/ petitioner for a period of one week from today.”
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