The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a key conspirator along with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The mercy plea of Memon was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 21.
The decision was taken by the President following recommendations of the Maharashtra government and the Union home ministry that the mercy petition of Memon be rejected.
A bench comprising justice JS Khehar and justice C Nagappan on Monday issued a notice to the Maharashtra government and others on the plea of Memon and said "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.
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 SC then said that this petition be also tagged and heard along with the plea of Red Fort attack case convict.
Yakub was sentenced to death by a TADA court in 2007 after being found guilty of charges of criminal conspiracy and for arranging finances and managing its disbursement through the co-accused in the Mumbai serial blasts.
A SC bench of justice P Sathasivam and justice BS Chauhan had on March 21, 2013, upheld the death sentence of Memon.
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.
Dealing with the case of Memon, a chartered accountant and brother of fugitive terror mastermind 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.
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.
In October, 2013, Yakub applied for a presidential pardon following which, a report from the state government was sought by the Union home ministry.
Yakub was arrested from Kathmandu airport in 1994.
He was described by the TADA court as the mastermind who played a key role in the conspiracy, thus "warranting death penalty".
The CBI, which probed the blasts, alleged that the conspiracy was hatched by Dawood Ibrahim and other absconding persons, including Yakub's brother Tiger Memon, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
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