The Supreme Court on Thursday deferred the hearing on Centre's petition seeking separate execution of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape-murder case as well as plea filed by death row convict Vinay Sharma challenging President's mercy petition rejection. The bench will hear the matter at 2 pm Friday. 

On Tuesday, convict Vinay Sharma challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by the President in the Supreme Court. The same day, the top court sought a response from the four convicts on Centre's appeal against a Delhi High Court verdict refusing to set aside the stay on their execution.

The apex court also asked the convicts to file their reply, and in addition appointed senior advocate Anjana Prakash as amicus curiae to represent one of the convicts, Pawan Kumar Gupta.

Gupta is the only person to have not filed a curative petition as well as the mercy plea against the death sentence.

The SC, however, asked the jail authorities to obtain a fresh date for execution of the death warrants from the trial court, citing that the pending appeals of Centre and Delhi government "will not be an impediment." 

On Wednesday, Asha Devi, mother of the 2012 gangrape victim 'Nirbhaya' on Monday launched a protest outside the court against the delay in executing the four convicts.

"I've been fighting for over eight years now. The judge does not want to fix a date for hanging the convicts and is supporting them. I appeal to the Supreme Court to issue the death warrant as the Patiala House Court is in no mood to issue a fresh death warrant," she said.

Last week, a Delhi court dismissed Tihar jail authorities' plea seeking fresh date for execution of the four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case.

The trial court had on January 31 stayed "till further orders" execution of the four convicts in the case -- Mukesh Kumar Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Kumar Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar (31), who are lodged in Tihar Jail.

The date of execution, first fixed for January 22 in Tihar jail, was later postponed for 6 am on February 1 by a January 17 court order.

A 23-year-old psychotherapy student, dubbed by media as 'Nirbhaya', was gang-raped and brutalised on a moving bus on December 16, 2012, before being dumped on the road. She was airlifted to Singapore where she died on December 29, 2012. 

Six people, including a juvenile, were arrested for the crime. The juvenile was released after serving a three-year term at a juvenile home, one accused allegedly committed suicide in jail while four others - Mukesh Singh (32), Pawan Gupta (25), Vinay Sharma (26) and Akshay Kumar Singh (31) were sentenced to death.

(With PTI inputs)