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Let CJI decide on Yakub’s death warrant, says Justice Dave

Both attorney-general & other senior advocates, appearing for Memon, were unanimous

New Delhi: Uncertainty for Memon aggravated on Tuesday as Justice Dave dismissed his plea without staying the death warrant while Justice Kurian differed and favoured a stay. “There will be no order in law if one judge has stayed it (death warrant) and the other has not”, the bench was told as it wanted to know the legal position due to the divergence of views between the two judges.

Both attorney-general Mukul Rohatgi and other senior advocates, including Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Memon, were unanimous on the legal situation that has to be addressed by a larger bench.

Justice Dave was of the view that there was no infirmity in the dismissal of the curative petition of Memon on July 21 and it was open for the Maharashtra governor to take a call on his mercy plea as the condemned prisoner has exhausted all available legal remedies.

However, Justice Kurian, who himself had raised a point which was not in Memon’s plea that the Supreme Court had not followed the correct procedure in deciding his curative petition, said “this defect needs to be cured” and that “the curative petition has to be heard afresh”.

This prompted Memon’s counsel to ask Justice Dave to add a line on staying the death warrant, which he refused. “Sorry, I will not like to be part of staying the death warrant. Let CJI decide,” Justice Dave said, who dismissed the stay plea.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle with gency inputs )
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