SC, President reject Yakub’s petitions

New Delhi, July 28

The mercy petition of Yakub Memon, facing gallows in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, was rejected on Wednesday night by President Pranab Mukherjee following recommendation to this effect from the government.

After the Supreme Court ruled that the TADA Court warrant to hang Yakub tomorrow at 7am is in order, the death row convict, as a last-ditch attempt to avoid the gallows, filed a mercy plea before the President. The Home Ministry recommended to the President to reject the mercy petition. Late in the night, Yakub’s lawyers moved the SC seeking stay on his execution for 14 days.

Mukherjee held consultations first with Home Minister Rajnath Singh who was later joined by Home Secretary LC Goyal and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar.

The confabulations lasted over two hours after which the President took the decision to reject the petition that was filed by Yakub in a last-ditch attempt to escape death tomorrow when he is scheduled to be hanged in Nagpur jail.

Memon was sentenced to death for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that had left 257 people dead and over 700 injured.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court said there was no violation of the procedure in the rejection of Memon’s curative petition by a Bench comprising three seniormost judges — Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, and Justices TS Thakur and Anil R Dave.

The apex court said it was not inclined to go into the issue of second mercy plea made by Yakub to the Maharashtra Governor.

The Bench rejected the contention of Memon that all legal remedies were not exhausted, including the issue of clemency, saying the President had rejected his mercy petition on April 11, 2014, which was communicated to him on May 26, 2014.

“After the first mercy petition was rejected he did not challenge it and on July 22, 2015, after rejection of his curative petition he filed the second mercy petition. However, how the second mercy petition is going to be dealt with, we are not inclined to go,” the bench said.

The Bench also rejected Memon’s plea that death warrant was issued without hearing him and a mandatory 14-day time frame was not granted in informing him about the date of execution after the rejection of mercy petition.

The order was passed by a three-judge Bench — comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Prafulla C Pant and Justice Amitava Roy — which was constituted to hear afresh Memon's plea after two judges had yesterday given a split order.

A three-judge apex court Bench headed by the Chief Justice had on July 21 rejected Memon's curative petition contending that the grounds raised by him for relief did not fall within principles laid down by the Supreme Court in 2002 in deciding curative pleas.

Memon had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and has remained behind bars for nearly 20 years, much more than a person serving life term has to spend in jail.

He had earlier sought commutation of death penalty, contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the death sentence for the same offence.

The apex court had on June 2, 2014, 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.

The apex court had on April 9 this year dismissed Memon's petition seeking review of his death sentence which was upheld on March 21, 2013.

Memon's review petition was heard by a three-judge Bench in an open court in pursuance of the Constitution Bench verdict that the practice of deciding review pleas in chambers be done away with, in cases where death penalty has been awarded.

A total of 12 coordinated blasts had rocked Bombay, as the city was then known, on March 12, 1993, leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured. —PTI