Supreme Court upholds death penalty for Yakub Memon

Dashing the hope of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a death row convict in the 1993 serial bomb blast case, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed the review plea making the way clear for his execution.

Memon's counsel, however, said his client still has another opportunity to file curative petition before the apex court and also mercy plea before President for a relief.

While rejecting Memon's plea, a three-judges bench headed by Justice Anil R Dave said it has reached to a conclusion after going through all the judgments from trial court to the top court in the case.

"We find that all the arguments advanced by the review petitioner have been considered in detail in the judgment which is sought to be reviewed. Hence, we do not find any error apparent on the face of record or any other ground so as to warrant interference in exercise of our review jurisdiction. The review petition is hence dismissed," the court said.

Memon's review plea was in an open court in following a Constitution bench's verdict last year that the practice of deciding review pleas in chambers be done away with, in cases where death penalty has been awarded.

Earlier, the apex court, on June 2, last year, had stayed the execution of Memon and referred his plea to a Constitution bench as to whether review petitions in death penalty cases be heard in an open court or in chambers.

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

Memon had sought review of the March 21, 2013 verdict of the apex court upholding his death penalty in the case relating to 13 coordinated bomb blasts in Mumbai, killing 350 persons and injuring 1,200 others on the afternoon March 12, 1993.

A TADA court in Mumbai had convicted 100 out of 123 accused in November 2006. While 12 were awarded death penalty including Memon, 20 others got the life term and the remaining 68 got varying jail terms under the provisions of the anti-terror law, IPC and other relevant penal laws.

On Memon's plea in March 2013, the top court had also confirmed the death sentence of Memon and commuted the death penalty awarded by a special TADA court to 10 others.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was also directed to serve the remaining three-and-a-half years of his five-year jail term for possessing illegal arms.

Besides commuting the death sentence of 10 convicts to life term, the court had also awarded rigorous life imprisonment to 25 others, out of which, four were earlier acquitted by the TADA court.