Last 10 hours of hope & despair

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi July 30

A turn of dramatic night-long events played out in Lutyens’ Delhi that ended in virtually a “death at dawn” sentence for Yakub Memon.

The 10-hour series of events ended with a three-judge bench of the SC that rejected a last-minute plea by Memon’s lawyers at 4.56am on July 30, two hours before the hanging.

The process started at 7pm on July 29 when Home Minister Rajnath Singh motored up the Raisina Hill to meet President Pranab Mukherjee. Rajnath carried the recommendation to reject the pending mercy petition of Yakub under Article 72 of Constitution.

A two-hour discussion followed during which Mukherjee is said to have consulted experts and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar. The MHA stuck to its stand in 2014 when it had rejected Yakub’s first mercy petition. Around 10pm, after Mukherjee rejected the mercy petition, a group of lawyers led by Anand Grover and Prashant Bhushan moved a petition in the SC seeking special hearing and reached the Krishna Menon Marg residence of Chief Justice HL Dattu.

Around midnight the CJI referred the matter to Justice Dipak Misra and the action shifted to his Tughlak Road residence. The Delhi Police disallowed media from being anywhere near Justice Misra’s home. A three-judge bench was formed comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy and the media was informed by lawyers around 2am that hearing would commence at 2.30am at the SC. The same bench had on the afternoon of July 29 dismissed Yakub’s last petition challenging his death warrant.

At 2.30am, the bench was to decide on the plea that Yakub had the right to challenge the rejection of his mercy petition by the President and cited an SC ruling that a 14-day gap is allowed between hanging of the convict and rejection of the mercy plea by the President. The moments from 2.30am to 3.18am were tense. The bench waited for Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi to arrive. At 3.18am, the hearing started in a court-room packed with lawyers and mediapersons. Grover argued the merits seeking 14-day relief. Rohtagi cited how the first mercy petition had been rejected by the President in April 2014 and the Shatrughan Chauhan verdict allowing 14-day relief to challenge the rejection of the mercy petition was valid in April 2014 and not now.

The argument continued for 60 minutes. Around 4.20am, with some 150 minutes to go for Yakub to hang, Justice Misra-led Bench starts dictating the order in open court. It cites how the counsel for Yakub has sought 14 days but reminds him that the option of challenging the rejection of a mercy petition by the President was open to him in April 2104.

At 4.56am, the Bench rejected the petition saying it is not allowed at this stage, finally sealing the fate of Yakub.