Janjivan bureau
New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea of Yakub Memon, convicted as “a driving spirit” for the 1993 blasts in Mumbai is expected to hang early tomorrow morning in a Nagpur jail.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh met the President this evening at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and recommended that he reject a new mercy petition that he received from Memon today.
The Maharashtra government is prepping final plans to execute Memon, who turns 54 tomorrow. The Mumbai police is making careful arrangements for security.
The Supreme Court today rejected a claim by Memon that he should not hang because proper legal procedure had not been followed in his case.
An earlier appeal for clemency filed by his brother had been refused last year.Memon was first convicted in 2007 by a Mumbai court for planning the attack in which 257 people were killed in serial explosions in the city. The Supreme Court upheld that verdict in 2013.
Memon’s brother, “Tiger” Memon, and mafia don Dawood Ibrahim, the main masterminds behind the attack, remain missing.
Memon said in the Supreme Court this week that an order to hang him was passed while he still had legal recourse available. Two judges differed on that yesterday, and the case was referred to a three-judge bench today, which ruled against Memon.
Supporters of Memon’s plea said he cooperated with investigating agencies. There were reports last week that he surrendered in 1994, choosing to return to India from Pakistan. He had left Mumbai with his family just before the attacks.
Prosecutors and investigators insist Memon was arrested and no secret plea bargain was offered.
Memon was the only one of 11 people convicted for the 1993 attacks to have his death sentence upheld on appeal.
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