Supreme Court rejects the plea of Yakub Memon, Hanging Tomorrow

Janjivan Bureau
New Delhi: If President Pranab Mukherjee rejects the mercy plea of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon then he will hang at 7 am on Thursday. Supreme Court today rejected his argument that correct procedure was not followed. Tomorrow is the 54th birthday of Yakub.
Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao also rejected Yakub Memon’s petition for mercy by around the time the Supreme Court was hearing his petition. Now Maharashtra government is preparing for his hanging at the Nagpur Central Jail tomorrow – his 54th birthday – for his role in the deadly terror attack in which 257 people were killed in blasts at various landmarks across Mumbai.
After a five-hour hearing, the Supreme Court today rejected Yakub’s argument that rocedure was not correctly followed in his case and said that the death warrant against him does not violate any fundamental right.
Yakub had asked the court to stop his hanging on grounds that his death warrant was illegal because it was issued in April, before he had exhausted every legal option; his curative petition challenging the Supreme Court’s ruling had not been heard then. It was rejected last week.
The court also rejected the argument of Yakub’s lawyers that he was informed only 17 days before his hanging date, even though the warrant was issued on April 30.
Some of the victims of the 1993 blast met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today and said that Yakub must be hanged without delay. “I have signatures of 1,600 people – given in just two hours – who all want Yakub to be hanged,” said Tushar Deshmukh, who lost his mother in the blasts.
A two-judge bench yesterday differed on whether to stop Yakub’s execution. Justice Anil Dave said it must not be stopped. The other judge, Justice Kurien Joseph said that there had been a clear violation of procedure and “such technicality should not stand in the way to protect the life of a person.” The court today disagreed with Justice Joseph.
Of the 11 sentenced to death for the terror attack, Yakub was the only convict not granted mercy.
A group of eminent citizens, including politicians, jurists and retired judges, had also asked the President to grant mercy to Yakub, arguing that in comparison, “the other 10 planted the bombs and played a much more critical and direct role.”
Yakub’s brother Tiger Memon, the main accused along with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, has been missing since 1993.