Judges who rejected Yakub's last minute plea given additional security

 

The petition was heard by a three-judge bench comprising of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitav Roy and Prafulla Pant, in court number 4 of the Supreme Court . 

The Supreme Court has never before been opened at 3 AM for a hearing.

After about 90 minutes, the judges rejected Yakub's appeal to stop his execution. He was hanged in Nagpur central jail a little before 7 am.

Yakub's lawyers cited a Supreme Court judgement in another case to argue that he can't be hanged for at least 14 days after his mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday.
 
They also argued that a Maharashtra prison manual, which says that there must be a seven-day gap between the rejection of a mercy petition and execution, has not been followed.

The Supreme Court rejected these arguments, saying enough opportunities  had been given to Yakub to file his petition after his mercy plea was first rejected.

Yakub's was buried in was buried in a graveyard in Mahim in Mumbai amid heavy security.