NEW DELHI: Even as the Supreme Court 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.on Wednesday another convict has challenged his execution using the last legal resort in the Supreme Court known as the curative petition.

Akshay Singh, 31, is the third convict to challenge his hanging with the method in a case that has been criticised for its duration and his petition makes his hanging over the weekend unlikely.

On Wednesday 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.

This move by the convict is said to further delay the hanging date of February 1st of the four convicts. These last-minute petitions by the convicts are seen as desperate attempts to stall their hanging and this delay has been criticised by many including parents of Nirbhaya. Social activists say that the sentence cannot be delayed as the convicts counsel are exploiting the legal system and stalling the hanging as a desperate measure. The Centre also has said that current rules are skewed towards convicts and allows them to "play with the law and delay execution,"in a petition.(with inputs from the Agencies)

Also Read: Nirbhaya: Death Row Convict Seeks Urgent Hearing