Yakub Memon's hanging on July 30 unlikely after Supreme Court refers case to larger bench

The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred to a larger bench the plea of lone Mumbai serial blasts convict on death row, Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, who is seeking a stay on his execution scheduled on July 30. Justices Kurian Joseph and AR Dave differed on the issue of entertaining Memon's plea with the former in favour of more hearing in the matter and the latter was opposed to the idea.

While dismissing Yakub's plea, Justice Dave left it for the Maharashtra Governor to take a call on his clemency plea. In his ruling, Justice Kurian said the curative petition of Memon needs to be heard afresh as it was dismissed by the Supreme Court without following correct procedure and rules. In the common order the two judges passed, the matter has been referred to Chief Justice of India HL Dattu, who is expected to take a call at 4 pm on the issue.

On Monday, the Supreme Court had deferred its decision on the petition challenging Memon's hanging in the Mumbai serial blasts case with his lawyer saying the trial court had failed to follow proper procedure and guidelines, and that his death warrant was announced even before Yakub could exhaust his last legal remedy - a curative petition.

Memon, 53, has also sent a mercy petition to Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao on July 23, after the Supreme Court refused his curative petition. However, the Maharashtra government on Saturday advised the Governor to reject the mercy plea. Memon's wife Rahin had appealed to the judiciary and the government to commute her husband's capital punishment to life term.

Yakub Memon, who has already spent 22 years in prison, was awarded the death sentence by a Special TADA Court in Mumbai on July 27, 2007 for his role in the blasts, including arranging finances for carrying out the 13 serial explosions which left 257 dead and over 700 injured across the city on March 12, 1993.

A chartered accountant by profession, 53-year-old Memon, who is set to be hanged in the Nagpur Central Jail on July 30, is a key conspirator along with India's most wanted man Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and is one of ten convicts awarded death penalty by the TADA court. Memon is also the younger brother of one of the main absconding accused Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon, who is suspected to be hiding in Pakistan.

Centre opposes Memon's mercy plea

As Memon told the Supreme Court that he could not be executed on July 30 as this would be in "flagrant" violation of the court's earlier directions, the central government strongly opposed it saying that he has already exhausted all the legal and administrative remedies.

"The matter ends here. Then that is the end of the matter," Justice Dave observed as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi took the court through the list of the dates starting with the pronouncement of judgment on March 21, 2013 by the apex court upholding Memon's death sentence, rejection of his two review petitions and curative petition and rejection of his mercy petition both by the president and the Maharashtra governor.

"There is no authority left to be moved now," Rohatgi said. At this, Justice Kurian observed: "You go with a begging bowl only when your legal remedies are over. You don't go for mercy petition when one has a legal right."

He said this as Rohatgi said that a mercy petition can only be filed if permissible under law. After the mercy petition has been rejected by the president and the governor in 2014, the same can't be moved again as fact and circumstance of the case remain the same, he added, citing the second mercy petition by Memon addressed to Maharashtra governor soon after the rejection of curative petition on July 21.

Justice Kurian also raised objection to the curative bench's composition, saying "it is inconceivable that three judges who had heard the review petition for ten days were not, except for one (Justice Dave), on the curative bench".