Monday, 2 June 2014

1993 Mumbai serial blasts case: SC stays execution of convict Yakub Memon - Times of India

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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

A bench comprising justices J S Khehar and C Nagappan issued notice to the Maharashtra government and others on the plea of Memon and said that in the meantime "execution proceedings will remain stayed".


The court also referred to a Constitution bench a plea of Memon that review petitions in death penalty cases should not be heard by the apex court in chamber proceedings and be decided in open court.


READ ALSO: 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case: SC upholds death sentence of Yakub Memon, calls him mastermind of terror strike


Senior advocate Upamanyu Hazarika, appearing for Memon, said that a similar plea by a death row convict in the 2000 Red Fort attack case, Mohammed Arif, had been referred to a Constitution Bench.


The court then said that this petition be also tagged and heard along with the plea of Red fort attack case convict.


A bench of justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan had on March 21, 2013, upheld the death sentence of Memon.


Dealing with case of Memon, a chartered accountant by profession and brother of proclaimed offender Tiger Memon, the court had said he was the "driving force" and a "mastermind" behind the blasts that rocked 12 crowded areas in Mumbai leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured.


Recently, President Pranab Mukherjee had rejected his mercy petition.


Memon had challenged the President's decision to reject his mercy petition. ​Memon is the younger brother of Mushtaq alias Tiger Memon, the alleged mastermind and main absconding accused.


READ ALSO: President rejects Yakub's mercy plea; family upset


The bench had commuted the death penalty awarded by a special TADA court to 10 others, who had planted RDX explosives-laden vehicles at various places in Mumbai,, to life term by distinguishing their roles from that of the Memon.


The court had also said the 10 other convicts on death row were people of lower strata in the society and were without any regular jobs and had fallen prey to the "hidden motives" of the main conspirators.


The 10 convicts whose death sentence was commuted to life term were — Abdul Gani Ismail Turk, Parvez Nazir Ahmed Shaikh, Mushtaq Tarani, Asghar Mukadam, Shahnawaz Qureshi, Shoaib Ghansar, Firoze Amani Malki, Zakir Hussain, Abdul Akhtar Khan and Farooq Pawale.


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


Out of 100 convicts, two died during the pendency of the case in the apex court which was approached by various convicts and CBI against the judgement of the lower court.


The Supreme Court, which acquitted two persons, had upheld the conviction of 84 others in the case and directed those out on bail to surrender to serve their remaining jail terms.


The bench had also clarified that the convicts, undergoing life imprisonment, were expected to remain in custody till death.


The court had said the accused received training in making of bombs by using RDX and other explosives, handling of automatic weapons like AK-56 rifles and hand grenades in Pakistan which was "organized and methodically carried out by Dawood Ibrahim, Anees Ibrahim, Mohd Dossa and Salim Bismillah Khan (since deceased)".

(With inputs from PTI)


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