Yakub Memon, one of the Memon brothers who were prime conspirators of the 1993 serial blasts, was hanged in 2015 following his conviction.
After the TADA court pronounced the death sentence on Yakub Memon, his lawyers, says senior lawyer Niteen Pradhan, failed to prove that the death sentence is not applicable to a conspirator in every court that they challenged Judge P D Kode's order.
Properties owned by Tiger Memon and his family, accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, are set to be auctioned. The properties include flats in Al Husseini building where conspiracy meetings were held.
'Members of the legal fraternity say Yakub Memon cooperated more than what investigators could have ever hoped for, providing information about Dawood Ibrahim and Yakub's elder brother 'Tiger' Memon, the masterminds behind the planning and execution of the Mumbai serial blasts.'
The various theories and statements about the culpability/innocence of 1993 blasts accused Yakub Memon present him with a Rashomon act, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'The Pakistan establishment keeps him well protected.'
A look at who's saying what about 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's hanging on Thursday morning at the Nagpur Central Jail:
Syed Firdaus Ashraf walks the streets of Mahim, where Yakub Memon grew up and lived till the day before the serial blasts in 1993, on the day Yakub was hanged and discovers an undercurrent of unease and restrained anger.
Barring any last-minute reprieve, Yakub Memon, the lone death row convict in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai blasts case, will be hanged at 7 am on Thursday morning.
The Delhi High Court dismissed a plea seeking the removal of the graves of terrorists Mohammad Afzal Guru and Mohammad Maqbool Bhatt from Tihar Jail, citing the absence of any law prohibiting burial inside jail premises and the government's decision to maintain law and order.
'I got to know the men accused of the blasts regularly meeting them in court and jail. Some of them, like Dutt, are back in jail. Others, like Mohammed Jindran, a quiet and well spoken middle class man, were killed. And now of course Yakub is ready to be hanged. The first in the case to do so,' says Aakar Patel.
Yakub Memon, who was convicted for helping finance the serial blasts in Mumbai in 1993 in which 257 people were killed, was hanged at the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday morning shortly before 7am.
'B Raman knew that Yakub Memon should not be given the capital punishment but at the same time he harboured too much anger against Dawood Ibrahim and 'Tiger' Memon, and wanted to see that they do not stand to gain in the legal process in any manner whatsoever.'
I well remember the article you have published because prior to sending it to you, he had shown it to me and I can vouch for its contents in the form in which you have published it. That was why I gave the permission to Rediff.com for publishing it,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished retired IAS officer who himself handled intelligence matters for nine years.
A former special director of the Intelligence Bureau told rediff.com: "The deal that Yaqub stuck with the CBI seems to have gone sour."
The curative petition and other legal remedies still available to Yakub Memon are part of his rights as a prisoner condemned to death. Does the Maharashtra government want to deprive him of these rights, asks Jyoti Punwani.
The Supreme Court will resume the hearing of 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon's mercy petition on Tuesday morning.
A controversy has erupted over the burial place of 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon in Mumbai, with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claiming the grave was 'beautified' and attempts made to turn it into a shrine of sorts.
'The nation State can thrive if all communities believe they have a stake in it; that their interests will be safeguarded; that there will be no discrimination; that there will be justice.' 'The political leadership of this country needs to decide whether it wants to mitigate these challenges to the nation by making necessary correction or whether it wants to ignore these questions that Yakub's noose has left behind,' says Ankur Bhardwaj.
Yakub Memon, the only convict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case whose death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court recently , has been awarded a master's degree in English literature by the Indira Gandhi National Open University. Memon is currently lodged in the Central Prison in Nagpur. Seven other convicts, who are serving life-terms, were awarded IGNOU degrees.
Had Yakub not agreed to surrender, the CBI could not have tried any of the Memons.
The family had planned to call on Yakub Memon early this month and had already booked the train tickets on July 4.
The Maharashtra authorities would go ahead with hanging of Yakub Memon, the sole death row convict of 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, on July 30 as scheduled, highly placed sources in Mumbai said on Thursday.
'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,' B Raman had written in August 2007.
The Supreme Court has referred to a larger bench the plea of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon seeking a stay of his scheduled execution on July 30 in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Family members of victims of 1993 Mumbai blasts submit mass petition to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fanavis
Yakub also denied that the premises at Al-Husseini building, which were used to store explosives, belonged to him. He claimed he did not own any apartment in the building.
Back in 2007, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt had profiled Yakub after he was sentenced to death by the Terrorist and Disruptive Actives (Prevention) Act court for criminal conspiracy and financing air tickets to send co-conspirators for arms and RDX training to Pakistan.
'Raman knew everything and was privy to all the details of Yakub's movements'
Rahin Memon begged that her husband be allowed to serve a life sentence and not be executed as he had willingly surrendered.
Back in 2007, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt had profiled Yakub after he was sentenced to death by the Terrorist and Disruptive Actives (Prevention) Act court for criminal conspiracy and financing air tickets to send co-conspirators for arms and RDX training to Pakistan.
Yakub Memon, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, is likely to be executed on July 30 if the Supreme Court turns down his mercy plea. It will be the first execution in the serial blasts, which left over 250 dead.
A special court in Mumbai has ordered the transfer of 14 properties belonging to Tiger Memon, an alleged mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, and his family to the central government. The properties, which were in the possession of the Bombay High Court's receiver since 1994, were forfeited under the Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators (Forfeiture of Property) Act (SAFEM) after proceedings initiated against Memon in 1993 based on a detention order issued by the Maharashtra government. The properties include a flat in Bandra, an office in Mahim, a plot in Santacruz, and several other properties across Mumbai.
The 1993 Mumbai blasts convict will be woken up early on Thursday, given light refreshments and prayers books before his execution.
Memon, 53, was found guilty of conspiracy in 2007 for the serial blasts that killed over 250 people.
Two decisions within a span of hours are instances of "judicial abdication" that should count among the "darkest hours" of the apex court, Prof. Anup Surendranath said.
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.
The 'bumbling liberal' and the 'neo-fascist' are two sides of the same coin. Neither has place in a moderate India, says Nikhil Inamdar
Justice Misra was part of the three-judge Supreme Court bench, which had dismissed the mercy plea and delivered the final order on 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon.
"I have already assigned the bench. The file had come to me. It will come up on Monday," said Chief Justice of India H L Dattu.
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