Twitter
Advertisement

No more lifeline for Yakub Abdul Razak Memon

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu, decided Memon's curative plea in chamber in five minutes, and said that certain grounds raised in the petition "would not fall within the principles laid down by the apex court in 2002."

Latest News
article-main
File photos of Yakub Memon being taken to a TADA court in Mumbai and the 1993 blast site at Century Bazaar (Worli)
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Yakub Abdul Razak Memon (53), the sole death row convict in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case, lost his last chance for a legal remedy, with the Supreme Court rejecting his curative petition and clearing the decks for his execution. The prosecution's case is that the 13 blasts in the afternoon of March 12, 1993, had left 350 dead and over 1,200 injured.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India H L Dattu, decided Memon's curative plea in chamber in five minutes, and said that certain grounds raised in the petition "would not fall within the principles laid down by the apex court in 2002."

Curative petition was the last legal remedy for Memon, after the top court rejected his review petitions (once in the chamber and next in the open court) in April this year.

Memon has only one option now. "A mercy plea will soon be filed before the Governor of Maharashtra, who will forward it to the President of India to grant pardon to the convict," one of Memon's counsels told dna.

"Although President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected his mercy plea in May last year, a convict has the right to approach again," the lawyer said. There is no time-limit for the President to decide on the plea, he said.

However, Yakub cannot pin any hope on this as the state is not bound to wait for the result of the mercy plea and can go ahead and hang Yakub.

The death warrant to hang Memon on July 30 in the Nagpur central jail was issued by a Terrorist and Disruptive (Activities) Prevention Act (TADA) court in Mumbai.

Memon, in his plea, claimed that he has been suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and has been behind bars for nearly 20 years. He sought commutation of death penalty, contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and extreme penalty for the same offence.

The TADA court in Mumbai had convicted 100 out of the 123 accused. While 12, including Memon, were awarded death penalty, 20 others got life term and the remaining 68 got varying jail terms under the provisions of the anti-terror law, IPC and other penal laws.

Even Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was directed to serve a five-year jail term for possessing illegal arms.

Finally, it was only Memon's death penalty, which was upheld by the top court.

The 23 whose life sentences were upheld by the SC include Yakub's brother Essa, who was found guilty of conspiracy and allowing the use of his flat at Al-Hussaini building in Mahim for meetings to plan the blasts and storing arms and ammunition, and sister-in-law Rubina, who arranged finances and allowed her car to be used by terrorists for carrying co-conspirators, arms, ammunition and explosives.
Yakub was arrested on August 6, 1994, when he arrived in Delhi from Kathmandu. He had claimed he felt remorse and wanted to surrender.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement