Yakub Memon being hanged because he's Muslim: Asaduddin Owaisie

[Soulspeek]

Our Judicial system is pathetic. Instead of having such terrorism related cases decided in fast track court, we keep on dilly dallying the judgement for decades. Then the terrorists keep on giving mercy pleas etc.

Sunny Paaji aptly said.... Taarikh pe taarikh.... taarikh pe taarikh!!!!

 

[Bang Galore]

The more I read about this case. the less I'm convinced that this man should be executed.

 

[ito]

He is hanged in lieu of his brother. The government should remember that he surrendered, he asked others to surrender, he reformed while in prison and he gave vital information that helped close the case. The death sentence should have been commuted to life in prison

 

[HariPrasad]

Tiger Memon and complicity of ISI and also that he was only a party to crime and not the main conspirator

This punishment is given by court after 23 years of hearing. You are no body to question it. In fact the court had been too much liniment by converting death penalty of others in life imprisonment. .

People resenting the death penalty does not want him to go scot free. they want him to serve life in prison until death.

I do not have problem with that. But the same large hearted people tells Hindu terrorist who are freed by court and tells Hindu organization fascist and terrorist inspite of the fact that they have not killed even a single Muslim in decades. So the people advocating the waiving off the punishment of Yakub are not doing out of any Humanity but out of the anti Hindu mindset . They are fifth columnist radicals hidden in secularism burkha. e.g They will never raise any voice for Cleansing of Hindus from Kashmir.

this is just a sentiment. I remember when Indira's killers were being hanged the top akali leaders were running from pillar to post till the time of hanging to save them from the noose.

Have I ever defended Akali leaders or said that the killer of Rajiv or Biyant sing be pardoned. I said they must be hanged. The crime of Yakub is much bigger than the crime of Rajiv's killer so there is no question of pardening them. By the way why do not you advocate pardon for Rajiv's killer like Yakub? When you display your double standerd you simply expose yourself.

Now on this basis you can not term the sikhs as anti nationals and similarly you should not term muslims also as anti nationals because they have a sentiment deferent from others.

Certainly I will. because that sentiment took the life of 300 innocents and you guys have no sympathy for them. You simply want to save a terrorist because being Muslim is on the top of your psyche. You believe that Muslims have the right to kill ohhers and still they should be allowed to get away. You guys are radicals only degree of radicalism differs.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

I for one, do not support the hanging of Yakub's menon. He is a CA, and important fact is that he came back into the country, when he could have stayed luxoriously in Karachi.
When terrorists from LTTE, Beant Singh's killers, and Noida killers( courtesy: Fucking NGO's) are not hanged, why should he be? Especially When he is accused no 5 or 6.

 

[magudi]

The more I read about this case. the less I'm convinced that this man should be executed.

Tiger had warned him that he'd suffer this fate - labelled a terrorist and hanged. This is significant miscarriage of justice on our part - and it's very unfortunate that across our entire political spectrum there's only one owaisi who is calling out this flawed sense of closure which we seek to grant the victims of the blast.

 

[ito]

Tiger had warned him that he'd suffer this fate - labelled a terrorist and hanged. This is significant miscarriage of justice on our part - and it's very unfortunate that across our entire political spectrum there's only one owaisi who is calling out this flawed sense of closure which we seek to grant the victims of the blast.

Owaisi is calling for a different reason. His invoking of religion will weaken Yakub Memon case not strengthen it.

 

[Bang Galore]

Tiger had warned him that he'd suffer this fate - labelled a terrorist and hanged. This is significant miscarriage of justice on our part - and it's very unfortunate that across our entire political spectrum there's only one owaisi who is calling out this flawed sense of closure which we seek to grant the victims of the blast.

If it is true that he was promised that the death penalty would not be used against him, we are doing significant damage to our credibility as a nation. Who else will trust us when we promise something ? Institutional credibility must be non-negotiable & must be upheld at all costs. This matter unfortunately should have been dealt with at lower levels itself before the case went this far. I simply do not trust anyone in the government to show the courage necessary to do something about it now. While I hope to be proved wrong, I see this not ending very well.

 

[farhan_9909]

muslims are India's African-Americans.

Time for indians to accept the fact that Muslims and Islam are integral to the history and culture of India.

Time for even the modi follower and RSS goons to accept this apart from moderate non fanatic indians like you.

 

[third eye]

Time for indians to accept the fact that Muslims and Islam are integral to the history and culture of India.

Of course they are integral , we have shared this land for centuries.

 

[Hindustani78]

Last Updated: Saturday, July 25, 2015 - 19:07
Top prison officer reviews preparations for Memon's hanging | Zee News

Nagpur: Additional Director General (ADG) of Police (prisons) Meera Borwankar this morning visited the Central Prison here to supervise the ongoing preparations for the scheduled hanging of Yakub Memon, the only death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, on July 30.


Borwankar arrived here last night and was briefed by Deputy Inspector General (prisons) Rajendra Dhamne and the superintendent of Nagpur prison Yogesh Desai.

Desai had overseen the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks convict, when he was posted at Yerwada prison in Pune.

Borwankar declined to talk to the media, saying the officials had been directed not to speak on the subject.

However, a police source said that the ADG was likely to camp here for a couple of days to ensure foolproof arrangements.

After the Supreme Court dismissed his curative petition, Memon has submitted a mercy petition to Maharashtra Governor. He has also moved the apex court afresh for a stay to the execution.

Yesterday the home department of Maharashtra government sanctioned Rs 22 lakh by issuing a government resolution to install an overhead grill-ceiling at the 'hanging yard' cell in Nagpur prison in view of Memon's likely execution.

PTI

SC to hear Yakub Memon's plea on Monday | Zee News
Last Updated: Friday, July 24, 2015 - 21:24


New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear on Monday the plea by 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon, challenging the death warrant issued against him and seeking the stay of his execution set for July 30.


"I have already assigned the bench. It will come by Monday," said Chief Justice HL Dattu as senior counsel TR Andhyarujina mentioned the matter before the bench, which also comprised Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Amitava Roy, on Friday.

Memon has moved the court contending that death warrant for his execution on July 30 was issued even before he could have exhausted the legal remedies that were available to him and when his curative petition was pending consideration by the apex court.

The apex court on July 21 had rejected Memon`s curative petition saying that it was void of merit.

On the same day, Memon filed a mercy petition before the Maharashtra governor seeking commutation of his death sentence into life imprisonment.

Memon, in his petition before the apex court, has relied on the apex court`s May 27, 2015, verdict where it had quashed the death warrant issued for the execution of Shabnam and her paramour Salim, both convicted for multiple murders of members of the girl`s family members including a 10-month-old child, on the grounds of it being illegal as procedure was not followed.

Quashing the death warrant, the court had held that the "Right to live under Article 21 does not end with the confirmation of the of the death sentence by the Supreme Court".

Holding that "even when death sentence has to be executed, the human dignity is protected", the court had said: "That is the reason there are many judgments as to the manner in which the execution is carried should be as painless as possible."

It had held issuance of death warrants by the sessions judge within six days of the apex court upholding the death sentence of Shabnam and Salim was "unwarranted".

Memon and 11 others were slapped with the death penalty by the special TADA court in July 2007 for 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts in which 257 people were killed and 712 were injured.

The apex court by its March 21, 2013 verdict uphold his death sentence while commuting the death sentence of ten others (one having died subsequently) to life imprisonment.

The apex court on April 9 had dismissed Memon`s plea for the review of death sentence verdict for the second time as it had earlier dismissed his similar plea seeking the recall of March 21, 2013 verdict.

************************

Last Updated: Friday, July 24, 2015 - 20:35
Late RAW official wanted leniency for Yakub Memon | Zee News

New Delhi: A late top official of RAW had favoured clemency for death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai blast case Yakub Memon on the ground that he had cooperated with investigating agencies and does not deserve to be hanged.


B Raman, who retired as Additional Secretary in 1994 and was in-charge of counter-terrorism, had written an article for publication containing this view but stopped it from seeing the light of the day following an after thought.

But the article has now been published on a website which talks about Memon being picked up in Nepal and his subsequent formal arrest at Old Delhi railway station by the CBI.

Chennai-based B S Raghavan, brother of the late Raman, said "everything that has been published is correct and he (Raman) had written it".

Raman, who passed away in 2013, had written about a "moral dilemma" in his mind ever since he had read about the sentencing of Memon to death by the court in 2006.

"There is not an iota of doubt about the involvement of Yakub and other members of the family in the conspiracy and their cooperation with the ISI till July 1994. In normal circumstances, Yakub would have deserved the death penalty if one only took into consideration his conduct and role before July 1994.

"But if one also takes into consideration his conduct and role after he was informally picked up in Kathmandu, there is a strong case for having second thoughts about the suitability of the death penalty in the subsequent stages of the case," said the article which has been published after taking permission from his brother.

The writer, who has written a book "The Kaoboys of RAW", spoke about many questions in his mind before writing the article but said "ultimately, I decided to write this in the belief that it is important to prevent a person, who in my view does not deserve to be hanged, from going to the gallows."

According to him, Yakub had cooperated with the probe agencies and assisted them by persuading some other members of the Memon family to flee from the protection of the ISI in Karachi to Dubai and surrender to the Indian authorities.

"The cooperation of Yakub with the investigating agencies after he was picked up informally in Kathmandu and his role in persuading some other members of the family to come out of Pakistan and surrender constitute, in my view, a strong mitigating circumstance to be taken into consideration while considering whether the death penalty should be implemented," he had argued in his article.

Raman said he was disturbed to notice that some mitigating circumstances in the case of Yakub Memon and some other members of the family were probably not brought to the notice of the court by the prosecution and that the prosecution did not suggest to the court that these circumstances should be taken into consideration while deciding on the punishment to be awarded to them.

"In their eagerness to obtain the death penalty, the fact that there were mitigating circumstances do not appear to have been highlighted," he said.

About his arrest part, Raman wrote that in July 1994, some weeks before his retirement, he was informally picked up in Kathmandu, with the help of the Nepal police, driven across Nepal to a town in Indian territory, flown to Delhi by an aircraft of the Aviation Research Centre and formally arrested in Old Delhi by the investigating authorities and taken into custody for interrogation.

"The entire operation was coordinated by me," he said.

Yakub was in Kathmandu to consult a lawyer about surrendering before the court but was advised against it and asked to return to Pakistan.

"Before he could board the flight to Karachi, he was picked up by the Nepal police on suspicion, identified and rapidly moved to India," he said.

PTI

 

[SwAggeR]

Tiger had warned him that he'd suffer this fate - labelled a terrorist and hanged. This is significant miscarriage of justice on our part - and it's very unfortunate that across our entire political spectrum there's only one owaisi who is calling out this flawed sense of closure which we seek to grant the victims of the blast.

Don't overlook the fact that the lower level terrorists who planted the bombs have been spared life sentence . But how can master minds be spared ?? What his brother said to him is filmsy at best.

 

[Echo_419]

Raising questions over 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's expected hanging, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said Memon is being punished because of his religion.

Addressing a public gathering in Hyderabad, Owaisi said Memon, who is likely to be hanged on July 30, accused the Centre of indulging in religious discrimination and said the government should execute all death row convicts.

Owaisi said killers of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh are not being executed because of political pressure.

"The killers of Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh have the backing of political parties in Tamil Nadu and Punjab. Which political party is backing Yakub Memon? Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab has gone to the extent of pardoning Balwant Singh Rajoana," Owaisi said.

Raking up the Babri Masjid issue, the Hyderabab MP said thousands of people were killed in communal riots following the demolition of Babri Majid, many officers were booked under serious chanrges but none were convicted.

Later, talking to India Today TV, Owaisi said he is not against the court's verdict in Memon's case but the circumstances leading to his death penalty can not be ignored.

Earlier, in a last-ditch effort to avoid execution of his death sentence, Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in the 1993 Bombay serial blasts that left 257 dead and over 700 injured, filed mercy petition to Maharashtra Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao. The move came after the Supreme Court rejected his curative petition, the last legal remedy available to avoid execution of death sentence.

A three judge bench headed by Chief Justice HL Dattu rejected Memon's plea, saying that the grounds raised by him do not fall within the principles laid down by the apex court in 2002 for deciding curative petitions.

Memon, in his plea, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and remained behind the bars for nearly 20 years. He had sought commutation of death penalty contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the extreme penalty simultaneously for the same offence.

The apex court said, "The petitioner has raised certain grounds in the curative petition which would not fall within the principles laid down in the case of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok Hurra.

The apex court had on April 9 this year dismissed Memon's petition seeking review of his death sentence which was upheld on March 21, 2013. President Pranab Mukherjee had earlier rejected his mercy petition in May 2014.

The Supreme Court, while upholding the death sentence to Memon, a chartered accountant by profession, on March 21, 2013, described him as the "driving spirit" behind the carnage that followed the communal riots of 1992.

The Supreme Court had also upheld the life sentence awarded to 23 others, including Yakub brother Essa, who was found guilty of conspiracy and allowing the use of his flat at Al-Hussaini building at Mahim for meetings to plan the blasts and storing arms and ammunition, and sister-in-law Rubina, who arranged finances and allowed her car to be used by terrorists for carrying co-conspirators, arms, ammunition and explosives.

Yakub was arrested on August 6, 1994 when he arrived at Delhi Airport from Kathmandu. He had claimed he felt remorse and wanted to surrender.

Yakub Memon being hanged because he's a Muslim: Asaduddin Owaisi : India, News - India Today

What a idiot

 

[Hindustani78]

From messenger to mastermind - The Hindu

Yakub Memon would pay for his brother’s sins and become the only man to be sentenced to death in the Mumbai blasts case.
Her name is Zubeida.

Her father abandoned her mother in an alien, hostile land a few days before her birth and left for an important mission, with a promise that he will see the mother and child within a few months.

Yakub Memon left his wife Rahin in Karachi and surrendered at the Tribhuvan International Airport at Kathmandu in July 1994. Rahin delivered the baby in Dubai and hoped that both mother and child would unite with Yakub in New Delhi to start life afresh.

“I was scared that any delay in returning from Pakistan would cause more obstructions for my return to India to clear my name. I am a man of conscience. I wanted to disassociate from Tiger’s misdeeds,” Memon desperately tried to explain to me when I was trying to coax him into giving me a detailed story of his escape from Pakistan.

This was in 1998. I was working as a journalist in Mumbai and was also doing research for my book Black Friday. I had become a regular at the specially designated TADA court which was handling the mammoth trial of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The logistics of ferrying 100-odd accused from Arthur Road jail to the sessions court at Kala Ghoda in south Mumbai every day was a daunting task for the jail security , so they simply carved out a court within the precincts of the jail.

By then the whole Memon clan knew me, including their manager Asgar Mukadam, the first to be arrested, and the thick-bearded driver, Abdul Gani Turk, who parked a Jeep with explosives near the passport office in Worli, killing over 110 people.

However, Yakub was a cut above the rest. He spoke to me in deference and was also quite keen to share his story with me. But he was afraid that if I went ahead and wrote the story before the conclusion of the trial, it would hamper his case. Occasionally, he used to drop nuggets of ambiguous information which turned out to be very precious when I followed it up.

Yakub was a smart and conscientious man. He was a professional Chartered Accountant, running a successful company with a Hindu partner, Chetan Mehta. According to Yakub’s statement to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the first time he heard about the serial blasts on March 12, 1993 was on BBC News at 4 p.m. in Dubai.

In captivity in Pakistan

The whole Memon family, holed up in Dubai at the time (two of the brothers had resident visas in Dubai), was stunned when they heard of the blasts. Tiger Memon was the only exception; he wanted to celebrate. The fear of the Dubai government hastily deporting the family to India forced them to leave for Pakistan where Tiger had arranged for their stay. In Karachi, they were shuffled from one palatial house to another, and finally dumped at a discreet enclave in Defence Colony. They were also chaperoned to Bangkok and back when the pressure got too much and the Indian government began mobilising support from the international community to deport them.

However, the Memons, excluding Tiger and Ayub Memon, were unhappy in captivity. The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was serenading them all the time. They were yearning to return to their homeland.

But Tiger and the ISI were dead against the idea of the clan of nine people returning to India. Yakub was no brave-heart , but one single moment of determination defines the difference between the courageous and the coward. He resolved to defy his own monstrous brother and the ISI, and fight against all odds to return to India.

Writing accounts and maintaining ledger balances had taught him the dexterous art of evening out all the columns, so that there were no anomalies and loose ends on paper. He began collecting evidence against Taufiq Jaliawala, the ISI kingpin of the serial blasts; took videos of all the secret locations; took pictures; taped the conversations and then gathered documentary evidence including fake passports and multiple identities that were issued by the Pakistani government.

Once his suitcase was full of evidence, Yakub booked a Karachi-Kathmandu-Dubai-Kathmandu-Karachi round ticket on a Lufthansa flight, so that his ISI captors would be certain of his return and create no obstacles to his trip. Yakub knew he couldn’t go to India directly. Surrendering in Dubai could prove to be disastrous as Pakistan and Dubai bureaucrats worked in tandem. He zeroed in on Kathmandu because he thought that Nepal was inclined towards India. He wanted to make a genuine mistake.

At the security check, Yakub fumbled with the lock of his briefcase and several passports tumbled out. An alarm was raised and Yusuf Ahmad was immediately detained. Within no time he confessed that he was actually Yakub Memon and within 48 hours he was handed over to the Indian government in a secret operation. The CBI version differs slightly. It says that the security noticed something akin to a gun in Yakub’s briefcase, asked him to open his briefcase, and all the passports tumbled out.

After his arrest in Nepal, Yakub was dumped near the Nepal border and a special plane brought him to New Delhi. He was shown as arrested at New Delhi railway station, which, Yakub wrote in a letter, he has never seen in his life.

Yakub was soon paraded all over. He was paraded out on Doordarshan to expose Pakistani involvement in the Mumbai blasts. Within weeks the CBI managed, with his help, to convince the rest of the Memons to return to India from Dubai. The moment Yakub was arrested, the rest of the Memons rushed to Dubai hoping to return as per their earlier plan.

In a thrilling operation, CBI officers whisked away the Memon clan right from under the ISI’s nose. Hoodwinking the ISI pursuers, eight members of the Memon family were brought back to India. Perhaps this is the only time in Indian history where eight Pakistani passports were stamped with Indian visas in a matter of minutes without even meeting the applicants.

Except for Tiger and Ayub and their wives, the whole Memon clan was back. Rahin joined them after a few days with the month-old Zubeida in her arms.

Hoping for a reprieve

The whole operation was made possible due to the sheer temerity and tenacity of one man, Yakub. After accomplishing this almost impossible mission, Yakub expected a reward of leniency and clemency. But the government turned on him. Yakub was interrogated and physically tortured in jail, and even driven out to a deserted spot and told that there would be an “encounter”.

But Yakub had nothing to add beyond what he had said on television or to his early CBI handlers. Now he was hoping for a reprieve. Weeks turned into months, months into years, and years into decades. But he got no respite.

It has been 21 years since Yakub promised a pregnant Rahin that he was leaving for India to get their names cleared. But to his dismay, he has only found himself inching closer to death.

We have put Yakub on the same boat as Lashkar-e-Taiba gunman Ajmal Kasab. One man returned to expose the villainy of our neighbouring country and his own brother; another sprayed bullets on hapless victims in Colaba.

Ironically, Yakub has been the biggest loser in the trial. He brought so much evidence to the Indian agencies, and yet became the mastermind in the case. In a heated argument, his brother Tiger had told him, “You are going as a Gandhian, but you will be hanged as Godse”. Yakub had retorted, “In time, I will prove you wrong”.

It is sad that the Tiger Memons of the world are always proved right while the Yakubs are sentenced to hang.

(S. Hussain Zaidi is an investigative journalist and the author of Black Friday.)

 

[Hindustani78]

Yakub Memon's mercy petition must be reconsidered: KTS Tulsi | Zee News

Last Updated: Sunday, July 26, 2015 - 15:31

New Delhi: Senior lawyer KTS Tulsi on Sunday said that the government should reconsider Yakub Memon's mercy petition in connection with the 1993 Bombay blasts case, adding that he has helped us in collecting some valuable evidence against Pakistan.

"I think it (mercy petition) should be reconsidered, he (Yakub) has rendered us valuable help in being able to collect evidence against Pakistan," Tulsi said.

"He (Yakub) gave us very valuable inputs, which were verified and found to be correct... The nation should show gratitude to this man (Yakub) for having given us valuable evidence, there seems to be genuine turn of heart in him," he added.

The senior lawyer's comments came after Bollywood actor Salman Khan in a controversial tweet said that Yakub Memon should not be hanged as the real culprit is the latter's brother Tiger Memon.

Yakub Memon has been sentenced to death for his role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

The Supreme Court had earlier this week rejected his last-minute appeal and upheld his hanging for July 30.

Yakub had challenged the apex court's order arguing that legal procedure was overlooked in awarding him death penalty. He said that the special TADA (Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) court, which ordered him death warrant in 2007, did so before he could exhaust all his legal options.

ANI

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Yakub Memon's hanging: Film fraternity, politicos, academicians, lawyers endorse mercy petition | Zee News

New Delhi: The death sentence of 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Memon has become a matter of debate within India as several eminent personalities including film actors, producers, lawyers and political leaders have come out in support of his mercy petition.


Speaking to ANI, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said that since Yakub has cooperated with Indian intelligence agencies, he should not be delivered capital punishment.

“CPI(M) in principle opposes capital punishment to Yakub Memon and others,” Yechury told ANI.

Furthermore, a petition endorsed by eminent jurists, MPs, leaders of political parties and other prominent figures has been submitted to President Pranab Mukherjee.

The petition requesting Mukherjee to consider the mercy plea against the execution of Yakub Memon has been supported by public figures like Shatrughan Sinha, Naseeruddin Shah, Mahesh Bhatt, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, Ram Jethmalani, D Raja and others.

Besides them, Bollywood actor Salman Khan on Sunday advocated against the death penalty of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon.

He also chided Yakub's absconding elder brother Tiger Memon on Twitter, who is one of the main suspects in the serial blasts. The actor feels that it should be Tiger who should be hanged, and not his younger brother Yakub.

Memon is scheduled to be executed on July 30 as per the execution warrant issued by TADA Court.

The petition has come at a time when there is a huge political controversy over Memon's hanging and the BJP has condemned the remarks by parties against the hanging of Memon saying such a defence is happening due to "petty politics".

BJP MP Sinha, who had a day before met and praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has once again gone against the party's stand on the Memon issue.

In the 15-page petition, the signatories have cited varioius legal points and international committments to argue that Memon should not be hanged.

"We most humbly request your Excellency to consider the case of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon and spare him from the noose of death for a crime that was master-minded by someone else to communally divide the country.

"Grant of mercy in this case will send out a message that while this country will not tolerate acts of terrorism, as a nation we are committed to equal application of the power of mercy and values of forgiveness, and justice. Blood letting and human sacrifice will not make this country a safer place; it will, however, degrade us all," the signatories said.

The petition is also supported by various academicians, members of the legal fraternity, activists and retired judges - Justice Panachand Jain, Justice H S Bedi, Justice P B Sawant, Justice H Suresh, Justice K P Siva Subramaniam, Justice S N Bhargava, Justice (retd) K Chandru, and Justice Nagmohan Das, noted lawyer Indira Jaising.

Others include academicians like Irfan Habib, Arjun Dev, D N Jha, and social activists Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and John Dayal.

They cited that India is a signatory to an international

commitment to abolish death penalty and hence death penalty cannot be imposed in India.

"Yakub Memon was not given advance notice of the death warrant hearing and as a result of which he and his lawyers could not participate and contest the issuance of the death warrant. Lack of hearing makes the present death warrant void," they said, citing a Supreme Court decision in the May 2015 Shabnam versus Union of India and Others case.

They said that there are some very "disturbing" aspects of this case which make the award of death sentence to Yakub Memon as "grossly unfair, arbitrary and excessive".

"Yakub Memon has served more than 20 years in prison since his arrest. His trial took 14 years to complete. While the Supreme Court used this long period of incarceration as a mitigating circumstance to commute the death sentences of the other 10 co-accused persons, it applied a different yardstick to Yakub.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that lengthy incarceration during pendency of appeal in death cases is a significant mitigating circumstance which ought to be considered in determination of sentence. In the interests of justice we request you to give due importance to this," they said.

They also argued that Memon is mentally unfit for execution as he has been suffering from schizophrenia for the last 20 years.

"His mental condition has been certified by jail doctors. Schizophrenia as a mental illness has been held by the Supreme Court to render a convict unfit for execution," they said.

They have also cited that commutation of death sentences of convicts in other terror cases like late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

"It is also worthwhile to note that death sentences imposed on the aides of Veerappan (convicted and sentenced to death under TADA), Rajiv Gandhi killers and Devender Pal Singh Bhullar have been commuted recently by Supreme Court.

"While the mercy petitions of Verappan's aides, Rajiv Gandhi's three killers and Devender Pal Singh Bhullar were decided belatedly by the President, thereby giving them the claim of delay jurisprudence, the Home Ministry has moved swiftly to reject Yakub Abdul Razak Memon's mercy's petition," they alleged.

The petitioners said that it seemed that "subjective factors" were the basis of decisions which lead to arbitrary actions.

They also argued that the death sentence has been awarded under TADA which was repealed.

"Memon has been tried and sentenced to death under TADA, a special law which was repealed by Parliament on account of it having been used to target minorities," they said and referred to a Supreme Court judgement, which according to them doubted the legality of prosecutions pursued after the repeal of TADA.

"Given the highly compromised rule of law credentials of TADA, executing Yakub Memon will perpetuate the dark legacy of this law," they said.

(With Agency inputs)

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Did Yakub Memon return to India on understanding with intelligence officials, asks Omar Abdullah | Zee News

Last Updated: Sunday, July 26, 2015 - 20:40

Srinagar: Even as leaders of various parties including BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha and its expelled MP Ram Jethmalani, eminent jurists and persons from different walks of life on Sunday submitted a fresh petition to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to waive off the death sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah joined the debate over capital punishment to Yakub Memon asking whether the Mumbai blast convict returned to India on the back of an understanding.

Omar posted on micro-blogging site Twitter: “One critical question - did he (Memon) return from Pakistan on the back of an understanding and if he did, was this disclosed?”

One critical question - did he return from Pakistan on the back of an understanding & if he did was this disclosed

He was reacting to a tweet by author Suhel Seth who had said that the court verdict on the 1993 Mumbai blast convict can be commented upon but not challenged.

"For me Yakub Memon's case is cut and dry. The courts have convicted him and they have sentenced him. We can comment, not challenge," Seth had tweeted.

Following Omar's tweet, Seth said it is the travesty of justice if the court had not taken into consideration the reports that Memon had returned to India following an understanding with some intelligence officials.

"Valid point which I am sure the courts have gone into and if not, then it is a travesty of our justice system," Seth wrote in another tweet, as per PTI.

Former Research and Analysis (RAW) officer B Raman, in an article written in 2007, had written that Memon, whose curative petition was rejected by the Supreme Court earlier this week, had cooperated with the establishment in the Mumbai blasts case.

Meanwhile, in the new petition urging stay against imminent execution of Yakub, the signatories claimed that there are "substantive and fresh grounds" that can be considered on merits.

Memon is scheduled to be executed on July 30 as per the execution warrant issued by TADA Court.

The petition has come at a time when there is a huge political controversy over Memon's hanging and the BJP has condemned the remarks by parties against the hanging of Memon saying such a defence is happening due to "petty politics".

BJP MP Sinha, who had a day before met and praised Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has once again gone against the party's stand on the Memon issue.

In the 15-page petition, the signatories have cited various legal points and international committments to argue that Memon should not be hanged.

"We most humbly request your Excellency to consider the case of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon and spare him from the noose of death for a crime that was master-minded by someone else to communally divide the country. Grant of mercy in this case will send out a message that while this country will not tolerate acts of terrorism, as a nation we are committed to equal application of the power of mercy and values of forgiveness, and justice. Blood letting and human sacrifice will not make this country a safer place; it will, however, degrade us all," the signatories said.

Besides Sinha and Jethmalani, those, who have signed the petition include MPs like Mani Shankar Aiyar (Congress), Majeed Memon (NCP), Sitaram Yechury (CPI-M), D Raja (CPI), K T S Tulsi and H K Dua (nominated) and T Siva (DMK), former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI(ML)-Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Brinda Karat (CPI-M) and filmmakers and actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Mahesh Bhatt, M K Raina and Tushar Gandhi.

It also included various academicians, members of the legal fraternity, activists and retired judges - Justice Panachand Jain, Justice HS Bedi, Justice PB Sawant, Justice H Suresh, Justice K P Siva Subramaniam, Justice S N Bhargava, Justice (retd) K Chandru, and Justice Nagmohan Das, noted lawyer Indira Jaising.

Others include academicians like Irfan Habib, Arjun Dev, D N Jha, and social activists Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and John Dayal.

They cited that India is a signatory to an international commitment to abolish death penalty and hence death penalty cannot be imposed in India.


"Yakub Memon was not given advance notice of the death warrant hearing and as a result of which he and his lawyers could not participate and contest the issuance of the death warrant. Lack of hearing makes the present death warrant void," they said, citing a Supreme Court decision in the May 2015 Shabnam versus Union of India and Others case.

They said that there are some very "disturbing" aspects of this case which make the award of death sentence to Yakub Memon as "grossly unfair, arbitrary and excessive".

"Yakub Memon has served more than 20 years in prison since his arrest. His trial took 14 years to complete. While the Supreme Court used this long period of incarceration as a mitigating circumstance to commute the death sentences of the other 10 co-accused persons, it applied a different yardstick to Yakub. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that lengthy incarceration during pendency of appeal in death cases is a significant mitigating circumstance which ought to be considered in determination of sentence. In the interests of justice we request you to give due importance to this," they said.

They also argued that Memon is mentally unfit for execution as he has been suffering from schizophrenia for the last 20 years. His mental condition has been certified by jail doctors. Schizophrenia as a mental illness has been held by the Supreme Court to render a convict unfit for execution," they said.

They have also cited that commutation of death sentences of convicts in other terror cases like late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

"It is also worthwhile to note that death sentences imposed on the aides of Veerappan (convicted and sentenced to death under TADA), Rajiv Gandhi killers and Devender Pal Singh Bhullar have been commuted recently by Supreme Court. While the mercy petitions of Verappan's aides, Rajiv Gandhi's three killers and Devender Pal Singh Bhullar were decided belatedly by the President, thereby giving them the claim of delay jurisprudence, the Home Ministry has moved swiftly to reject Yakub Abdul Razak Memon's mercy's petition," they alleged.

The petitioners said that it seemed that "subjective factors" were the basis of decisions which lead to arbitrary actions.

They also argued that the death sentence has been awarded under TADA which was repealed.

"Memon has been tried and sentenced to death under TADA, a special law which was repealed by Parliament on account of it having been used to target minorities," they said and referred to a Supreme Court judgement, which according to them doubted the legality of prosecutions pursued after the repeal of TADA. Given the highly compromised rule of law credentials of TADA, executing Yakub Memon will perpetuate the dark legacy of this law," they said.