Delhi, Feb 20: One of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape-murder case today moved the Election Commission(EC) challenging the rejection of his mercy petition.

According to reports, the convict Vinay Sharma, through his lawyer AP Singh, told the EC that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was in place in Delhi when his mercy application was rejected by Minister Manish Sisodia. As the MCC was in place, this made him ‘ineligible’ to reject the petition.

His lawyer further argued that the digital signatures of Sisodia were needed on his plea, but a screenshot of WhatsApp message was sent out instead to reject the petition.

The petition is forwarded by the Delhi government to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and then to the President who rejects or accepts it.