Mumbai: The Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court's rejection of the curative petition of Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a message that those who indulge in terror acts against India will be hanged. I welcome this message and I thank the Prime Minister," senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam told reporters.
Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi welcomed the apex court ruling with mixed feelings about the course of the case.
"I welcome the Court decision with bowed head," Azmi said.
The SP MLA, who was running a travel agency at the time of the blasts, recalled that he had spent over a year in jail in the blasts case before being discharged by the Supreme Court.
"I can say that the agencies can go to any extent to frame anyone," he said.
"Someone had come to surrender. A noted counsel had said that the prosecution obtained a treasure trove of information (from him)," Azmi said, recalling that Yakub had returned of his own volition to surrender before the Indian authorities.
"The information he provided played an important role in the trial of the 1993 blasts case accused but instead of being treated as an approver of sorts, he became a fall guy," he said.
