Yakub Memon hanged

NAGPUR/NEW DELHI, July 30:
Yakub Memon, the lone 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict whose death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, was hanged to death today, capping dramatic last-ditch legal manoeuvres by his lawyers to stall his execution that ended in failure.
Memon, who turned 53 today, was hanged at Nagpur Central Prison at 7 am, the hour set by the TADA court for execution of his death warrant, that came under repeated challenge by his legal team.
“He was hanged at 7 am sharp,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis told PTI in a text message.
His body was later handed over to his brother Suleman and cousin Usman, who had been camping in Nagpur since yesterday. It is now being flown to Mumbai for the last rites, official sources said.
The execution of Yakub, whom the Supreme Court had described as the “driving spirit” behind the 12 coordinated blasts on March 12, 1993, that left 257 dead and 713 wounded, was preceded by a vigorous last-gasp attempt by his lawyers to prevent the hanging that continued through Wednesday and spilled over to the early hours of today.
Barely had a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court yesterday rejected his petition seeking a stay on execution and found no infirmities in the apex court’s dismissal of his curative petition, Memon filed a fresh mercy plea before the President Pranab Mukherjee.
Mukherjee soon went into a huddle, first with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was later joined by Home Secretary L C Goyal and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar. The confabulations dragged on for two hours before the President rejected it.
Earlier in the day, the President, as per the norm, forwarded the petition to the Government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singh and the top officials deliberated on the issue and advised Mukherjee to reject Memon’s plea. Rajnath Singh himself drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan to communicate the Government’s decision.
Memon had approached the President soon after Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, rejected a similar prayer.
Running out of time fast, Memon’s lawyers launched a fresh manoeuvre and rushed to the residence of the Chief Justice H L Dattu with a petition for an urgent hearing to stay the hanging on the ground that 14 days’ time is needed to be given to a death row convict to enable him challenge the rejection of his plea and for other purposes.
After due consultations, Justice Dattu constituted a 3-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, which had hours earlier upheld the death warrant and refused to stay its execution.
The unprecedented pre-dawn hearing began in Court Room 4 at 3:20 am and, an-hour-and-a-half later when it concluded at 4:50 am, Memon’s fate had been sealed.
“Stay of death warrant would be a travesty of justice. The plea is dismissed,” said Justice Dipak Misra, snapping the final life line to Memon.
Memon’s senior counsels Anand Grover and Yug Chowdhury contended the authorities were “hell bent” on executing him without giving him the right to challenge the rejection of his mercy petition by the President, insisting right to life of a condemned prisoner lasts till his last breath.
Grover said a death row convict is entitled to 14 days reprieve after rejection of mercy plea for various purposes.
Opposing Memon’s plea, Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi said his fresh petition amounted to “abusing” the system.
Rohatgi said the whole exercise was an attempt to prolong Memon’s stay in jail and get the sentence commuted. “A death warrant upheld just 10 hours ago by three judges cannot be quashed,” he said.
The bench concurred with Rohtagi , with Justice Mishra saying the convict had “ample opportunity” after his first mercy plea was rejected by the President on April 11, 2014 which was communicated to him on May 26, 2014.
He said the rejection could have then been challenged before the Supreme Court.
“As a consequence, if we have to stay the death warrant it would be a travesty of justice,” the bench said, adding “we do not find any merit in the writ petition”.
Reacting to the verdict, Grover said it was a “tragic mistake” and a “wrong decision”.
Yakub, a chartered accountant by profession, was held guilty of conspiracy and financing the serial blasts through co-accused Mulchand Shah and the firm M/s Tejarat International – owned by his brother Ayub Memon, who is still absconding.
He was also charged with providing tickets to some co-accused who were sent to Pakistan via Dubai for training in use of arms and ammunition, besides purchasing vehicles in which RDX had been planted for the massive blasts.
The Supreme Court while confirming his conviction and death sentence awarded by the TADA court on September 12, 2006, had on March 21, 2013 described him as the “Driving Spirit” behind the explosions that followed the communal riots in 1992-93 in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition.
Yakub was arrested in Delhi on August 6, 1994 on his arrival from Kathmandu. While the law enforcement agencies said he was arrested, Yakub claimed he had come to surrender after suffering pangs of remorse.
In a fresh twist to the Yakub saga barely days before his hanging, emerged an article by a former RAW honcho B Raman, who headed the Pakistan desk in the agency at the time of his arrest, which said he was persuaded to return to India by the Central agencies. There was, however, no confirmation if Yakub had entered into a deal with them as part of which he could have escaped the noose.
Yakub’s brother Essa and sister-in-law Rubina are undergoing life imprisonment in the case for conspiracy and arranging finances and logistics for the terrorists who carried out the blasts.
Conspirators, who are alleged to have played a greater role in the carnage, including his elder brother Tiger Memon and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, are still absconding and said to have been sheltered by Pakistan’s ISI.
Meanwhile, security has been stepped up in Mumbai, especially in Mahim area where Yakub’s family resides as also in some other sensitive localities, and over 400 people have been detained as a preventive measure.
The police have asked his family not to carry his mortal remains in a procession and made arrangements for performance of his last rites at a cemetry in Marine Lines amid heavy bandobust.
“We have not permitted Yakub’s family to reach the cemetery in any procession taking into account law and order situation and only those very close to the family would be taking part in his last rites,” a senior police officer said.
“We have already gathered personal details of the people who would be with Yakub’s family,” he added. (PTI)

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