Supreme Court To Hear Memon’s Plea On July 27

24 July, New Delhi

Supreme Court Friday decided to hear the plea of 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon, who had sought a stay of his death sentence, set for July 30.

“I have already assigned to the bench. It will come by Monday,” said Chief Justice HL Dattu, after senior counsel of the apex court TR Andhyarujina mentioned the matter before the bench today.

After the apex court rejected Memon’s mercy petition on July 21, he moved the former yesterday, seeking stay of execution of his death sentence.

Memon, in his petition, said that all legal remedies have not been exhausted and he has also approached the Maharashtra Governor with a plea for mercy.

He had filed the mercy plea before the Governor immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court on Tuesday.

The dismissal of Memon’s curative petition by the Supreme Court had paved way for his execution on July 30 in Nagpur central jail.

The blasts in March 12, 1993, ripped through Mumbai, then known as Bombay, killing at least 257 people at several landmarks, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, a popular cinema hall and two crowded markets.

According to the CBI, Memon’s brother “Tiger” Memon and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, were the main masterminds behind the attack, carried out to avenge the destruction of the Babri mosque in 1992. Both remain in hiding, reportedly in Pakistan.

Memon is, however, the only convict to be sentenced to the gallows for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. The Supreme Court had commuted other 10 convicts’ death sentence to rigorous life imprisonment. It, however, held the offence committed by Yakub Memon to be the rarest of rare and sentenced him to the gallows.

While Tiger Memon has been in hiding since 1993, Yakub Memon decided to return to India from Pakistan in 1994, to prove his innocence in the case