New Delhi:
The Delhi High Court today issued production warrants to the four death row convicts in the December 16 gangrape case on the trial court's reference for confirmation of the capital punishment given to them.
A bench of justices Reva Khetrapal and Pratibha Rani directed Tihar Jail authorities to produce Mukesh (26), Akshay Thakur (28), Pawan Gupta (19) and Vinay Sharma (20), before it tomorrow.
The order came on the submission of Special Public Prosecutor Dayan Krishnan that the court can direct production of the convicts to know whether they are going to file an appeal against the death sentence.
The prosecutor made his submission while answering a query of the bench as to how soon the court can hear the matter at length.
On September 13, while awarding capital punishment to Mukesh, Akshay, Pawan and Vinay, Additional Sessions Judge Yogesh Khanna had referred the case to the high court for confirmation of the sentence.
The trial court has to refer each death penalty case to the high court for confirmation of the punishment.
The trial court had also granted 30 days' time to the convicts to file their appeal before the high court.