Home Ministry likely to advise President to reject Yakub Memon's mercy plea
New Delhi: Government is likely to reject the mercy petition of Yakub Memon, who is facing gallows in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, and convey this view to President Pranab Mukherjee.
Hectic consultations were on late in the evening on the issue with law secretary P K Malhotra holding discussions with home secretary L C Goyal apparently on the issue.
Government sources said the home secretary may formally communicate this view to the President who had referred the fresh petition filed by Memon on Wednesday.
Read: BJP, Congress welcome SC verdict on Memon, Owaisi disappointed
The President, who acts on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, had referred the petition to the home ministry earlier in the day.
Rashtrapati Bhavan is expected to make public its decision, one way or the other, on the issue tonight as time is running out for Memon.
Read: Maharashtra Governor rejects Yakub Memon's mercy plea
He is scheduled to be hanged tomorrow morning in the Nagpur jail after the Supreme Court dismissed his petition against the death warrant on the ground that it was issued before his curative plea was heard by the court.
BJP workers shout slogans against Maharashtra Congress Party MLAs for their petition to withdraw the death sentence of Yakub Memon during a protest in Mumbai on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)
President had rejected Yakub's mercy petition on April 11, 2014 which was communicated to him on May 26, 2014. A three-judge apex court bench headed by 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.
Read: Yakub has not made his will so far: Lawyer
The apex court ruled in the afternoon that there was no ‘legal fallacy’ in the death warrant issued by the TADA court in Mumbai on April 30.
"The issuance of death warrant is in order and we do not find any kind of legal fallacy," a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy said.
"Issuance of death warrant by the TADA court of April 30 cannot be faulted," the bench said, adding, "in the result, the writ petition (filed by Memon) is sans merit and stands dismissed."
The bench said the dismissal of the curative petition last week by senior most SC judges was correct.
Read: Yakub Memon death penalty: BJP welcomes SC verdict, slams those opposing sentence
"In view of that, we conclude that the curative petition decided by the three senior most judges cannot be faulted," the bench said, adding that it was not inclined to go into the issue of the second mercy petition filed by Memon before the Maharashtra government after the dismissal of his curative petition on July 21.
Yakub’s lawyer had told court that the death warrant was illegal because it was issued in April, much before he could exhaust all legal options. His curative petition challenging the Supreme Court's ruling had not been heard then. That curative petition was rejected last week.
The lawyer also argued that Yakub was informed only 17 days before his hanging date even though the warrant was issued on April 30. To this too, the Supreme Court said there was no violation in issuing the death warrant. Procedures did not violate his fundamental rights, the apex court ruled.
Read: Attorney General calls Memon a 'traitor', has a spat with senior lawyer
Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant, will be hanged at 7 am in a jail in Nagpur. Tomorrow is also his 53rd birthday.
Over 22 years after the metropolis, then known as Bombay, was rocked by 12 coordinated blasts allegedly masterminded by fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Memon, a key conspirator, who was described by the Supreme Court as the "driving spirit" behind the worst terror strike in the city, would be sent to the gallows on July 30.
Read: Yakub Memom will be woken at 3 am tomorrow: sources
Memon, in his several pleas to the court, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and had remained behind the bars for nearly 20 years. He had sought commutation of death penalty contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the extreme penalty simultaneously for the same offence.
Tight police security outside the Central Jail where 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon is lodged, in Nagpur on Wednesday. (Photo: PTI)
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. President Pranab Mukherjee had earlier rejected his mercy petition in May 2014.
Read: Supreme Court verdict on Yakub Memon: Experts question procedure, victims happy
The Supreme Court had also upheld the life sentence awarded to 23 others, including Yakub brother Essa, who was found guilty of conspiracy and allowing the use of his flat at Al-Hussaini building at Mahim for meetings to plan the blasts and storing arms and ammunition, and sister-in-law Rubina, who arranged finances and allowed her car to be used by terrorists for carrying co-conspirators, arms, ammunition and explosives.
Yakub was arrested on August 6, 1994 when he arrived at Delhi Airport from Katmandu. He had claimed he felt remorse and wanted to surrender.
Read: Who is afraid of Yakub Memon?
Yakub's elder brother Tiger Memon, a close Dawood associate and some other conspirators, including the fugitive mobster's right hand man Chhota Shakeel, are believed to have taken shelter in Pakistan.
