SC refuses to stop Yakub Memon’s hanging, President sends mercy plea to Home Ministry

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday sent the fresh mercy petition of 1993 Mumbai-blast accused, Yakub Memon filed today as a last ditch attempt to escape the gallows--to the Home Ministry.

Memon, who is scheduled to be hanged to death in Nagpur Jail tomorrow at 7 am, sent a fresh clemency plea to the President today.

Read: BJP, Congress welcome SC verdict on Memon, Owaisi disappointed

Sources said the Ministry is likely to advise the President about the legal position as the Supreme Court today refused to stay the execution and Maharashtra Governor also rejected his mercy petition.

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: Maharashtra Governor rejects Yakub Memon's mercy plea

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.

Read: Yakub has not made his will so far: Lawyer

"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.

Maharashtra governor Vidyasagar Rao too rejected Yakub Memon’s mercy petition. 

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.

Read: Attorney General calls Memon a 'traitor', has a spat with senior lawyer

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: Yakub Memom will be woken at 3 am tomorrow: sources

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: Supreme Court verdict on Yakub Memon: Experts question procedure, victims happy

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.

Read: Supreme Court bench split over Yakub Memon's plea, refers it to CJI

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.

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.

Read: Who is afraid of Yakub Memon?

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.

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.