The Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case triggered big changes to laws on sexual crimes against women.
The centre has recommended to President Ram Nath Kovind the rejection of a request for mercy by one of the convicts in the December 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman. Four convicts in the case were sentenced to death.
Five men were convicted and sentenced to death. The minor was sent to a juvenile home and released under the law applicable for his age. One of the five men, Ram Singh, killed himself in jail. Of the four left, only one - Vinay Sharma - applied for mercy plea.
The recommendation for the rejection of the mercy plea of the Nirbhaya gang-rape convict comes at a time when there is nationwide outrage over the gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian near Hyderabad.
The move came two days after the file rejecting the mercy plea was sent by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to the Union Home Ministry. The Delhi government too had "strongly recommended" to reject the mercy petition filed before President Kovind, news agency PTI had reported on Sunday, quoting sources.
The file has been forwarded to the President for consideration and final decision. The Home Ministry has commented in the file recommending the rejection of the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, the official said.
The parents of the young woman, referred to as "Nirbhaya", too have written to the President, seeking rejection of Vinay Sharma's mercy petition.
The 23-year-old paramedic student was gang-raped on the intervening night of December 16 and 17, 2012 inside a moving bus in south Delhi by six people. She was violated with an iron rod when she protested. Her friend was beaten severely, and both were thrown out of the bus at a secluded spot. She died 13 days later, on December 29, in Singapore.
The Nirbhaya case, which scarred the nation, had been headlined across the world, triggering big changes to laws on sexual crimes against women. It also put focus on the increasing number of crimes involving juveniles, bringing about change that would see them tried as adults under specific circumstances.