SC dismisses Yakub Memon’s plea on death warrant

NEW DELHI : A three-member bench of the Supreme Court has rejected 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon’s plea seeking a reconsideration of his death sentence. The apex court on Wednesday upheld the death warrant against Memon and said that the death warrant issued is valid.The bench has unanimously decided that the death warrant issued is correct and the curative petition is in accordance with the law. Dismissing his plea, the SC said that there was no lapse in the curative petition.Memon will be hanged at 7 AM on July 30 at the Nagpur Central Jail.Soon after the Supreme Court verdict, the Maharashtra Governor dismissed Memon’s mercy plea. The fate of the lone convict of the 1993 blasts is now hanging with President Pranab Mukherjee.Speaking on the case, senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam said, “The SC has rejected all the contentions raised by Yakub Memon. The President will have to take the decision on the mercy petition today itself.”There is still ambiguity over what will happen if the decision on the mercy petitions is not taken by the President on Wednesday. According to the TADA court order, Yakub Memon is scheduled to be hanged on Thursday.The bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, before rising for lunch recess, had said that it will pronounce the order on Wednesday itself, if the counsel for the parties “cooperate”.