President Mukherjee rejects mercy plea, Yakub Memon to hang tomorrow

The Supreme Court bench on Wednesday dismissed his plea against the death warrant in the Mumbai serial blasts of  1993 when in a series of 13 bomb explosions 350 people were killed and 1200 injured.

The attacks were coordinated by India's most wanted man, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, who runs an organised crime syndicate named D-Company from abroad.  

1962 born Yakub  Memon, a chartered accountant by profession, was convicted in the 1993 blasts by Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court on 27 July 2007. He is the brother of one of the prime suspects in the bombings, Tiger Memon.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh earlier met Mukherjee and reportedly advised him to reject Memon's plea.

The Supreme Court earlier in the day said that proper procedure was followed in Yakub's curative petition and his death warrant is without any lapse.

The Governor of Maharashtra has also dismissed the mercy petition by Memon against his hanging. 

A three-judge Supreme Court bench heard on Wednesday whether the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Yakub Memon will hang on Thursday or not even as he filed a fresh mercy petition with the President who had last year rejected the clemency plea.

In the apex court the petition of Yakub was that proper procedure was not followed in his case with his lawyer arguing that the death warrant issued against him is illegal.

Memon's death warrant has already been issued and he is to be executed on July 30 inside the Nagpur Central jail before 7 AM.

The hearing of Memon's case came after the earlier two-judge bench of Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph was divided in its opinion and left it to Chief Justice of India HL Dattu to set up a larger bench .

While Justice AR Dave dismissed his petition, Justice Kurien Joseph disagreed, saying Yakub’s curative petition needed to be heard afresh as it was dismissed without following correct procedure and rules laid down by the top court.

Yakub  also filed a fresh petition challenging the validity of the SC’s July 21 order rejecting his curative petition.

Ahead of his hanging Memon had filed a petition before the Supreme Court stating that a a lower court's death warrant against him was issued before he exhausted all the legal remedies available to him under the law- which is violation of the existing law.

An accountant by profession, Memon also filed a mercy petition before the Maharashtra government immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court last week.

Meanwhile, just a day before his scheduled hanging Yakub Memon has filed a fresh mercy petition with the President.

The hearing of Memon's case comes after the earlier two-judge bench of Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph was divided in its opinion and left it to Chief Justice of India HL Dattu to set up a larger bench .

While Justice AR Dave dismissed his petition, Justice Kurien Joseph disagreed, saying Yakub’s curative petition needed to be heard afresh as it was dismissed without following correct procedure and rules laid down by the top court.

Yakub  also filed a fresh petition challenging the validity of the SC’s July 21 order rejecting his curative petition.

Ahead of his hanging Memon had filed a petition before the Supreme Court stating that a  lower court's death warrant against him was issued before he exhausted all the legal remedies available to him under the law- which is violation of the existing law.

Memon also filed a mercy petition before the Maharashtra government immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court last week.