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1993 Mumbai blast case: SC affirms death sentence for Yakub Memon
The Supreme Court, Thursday, rejected the review plea filed by death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a key conspirator with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, Thursday, rejected the review plea filed by death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a key conspirator with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The court had held a open court hearing of the review plea filed by Memon.
The SC had - on March 21, 2013 - upheld the lower court order awarding death sentence. However, the apex court later in June 2014 stayed his execution, pending decision on Memon's review plea.
Dealing with case of Memon, a chartered accountant by profession and brother of proclaimed offender Tiger Memon, the court had said he was the "driving force" and a "mastermind" behind the blasts that rocked 12 crowded areas in Mumbai leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured.
The court had also said the 10 other convicts on death row were people of lower strata in the society and were without any regular jobs and had fallen prey to the "hidden motives" of the main conspirators.
"Since Memon as well as other absconders (Dawood and others) were the real conspirators who hatched the scheme for such a tragic act, the 10 appellants were mere subservient subordinates whose knowledge and acquaintance might have been restricted to their counterparts. If we say it in a metaphoric style, he (Yakub) and all the absconding accused were the archers whereas rest of the appellants were the arrows in their hands," it had said.
President Pranab Mukherjee had also rejected Yakub's mercy plea. The decision was taken by the President following recommendations of the Maharashtra government and the Home Ministry that the mercy petition of Yakub be rejected, a senior official had said.
At least 257 people were killed in 13 blasts at several Mumbai landmarks, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, a popular cinema and two crowded markets.
The bombings, police say, were carried out at the behest of gangster Dawood Ibrahim to avenge the destruction of an ancient mosque by Hindu zealots in 1992 and subsequent riots in which many Muslims were killed. A special anti-terrorism court had convicted 100 people in the attacks.