Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal has recommended the Union home ministry to reject the mercy petition of one of the convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case, officials said on Thursday.

Mukesh Singh, one of the four convicts, filed the mercy petition a few days ago.

'The home ministry has received the mercy petition from the LG recommending its rejection. The petition is being examined and an appropriate decision will be taken soon,' a home ministry official said.

The Delhi government on Wednesday recommended rejection of the mercy plea filed by Singh, one of the four death row convicts in the 2012 gangrape and murder case, and forwarded it to the LG at 'lightning speed'.

It also informed the high court during a hearing that execution of the convicts will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea has been filed by Singh.

The four convicts -- Singh (32) Vinay Sharma (26), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- were to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.