INDIA: SC BLOCKS DEATH OF TWO IN DEC 16 GANG-RAPE

The Supreme Court of India suspended the death sentence of Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur, the two remaining convicts in the Dec 16, 2012, Delhi gang rape case, as it extended its March 15 order blocking execution of two other death row convicts - Mukesh and Pawan Gupta - in the same case.
"We have to pass the same order," said the bench of Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai and Justice N.V. Ramana, referring to the March 15 order, as counsel for Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur urged the court to suspend their execution.
The court declined to pass an order on Vinay and Akshay's plea that in view of the amendment in the apex court rules, their plea should be heard by a three-judge bench.
They referred to a newspaper report quoting Chief Justice R.M. Lodha as saying that the president has given assent to the amended rules and from Aug 16, all appeals in death sentence cases would be heard by a three-judge bench.