Written by Vijaita Singh , Rahul Tripathi | New Delhi | May 21, 2014 2:25 am
Yakub, guilty of 1993 Mumbai blasts.fileYakub, guilty of 1993 Mumbai blasts. file

SUMMARY

Sources said thedecision was takenby the President last week and communicated to the Maharashtra government, which will decide the execution date.

President Pranab Mukherjee has rejected the mercy petition of Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. Memon is the brother of Ibrahim Memon, better known as Tiger Memon, the alleged mastermind and main accused who is absconding.

Sources said the decision was taken by the President last week and communicated to the Maharashtra government, which will decide the execution date. Memon is currently lodged in the high-security ward of Nagpur jail.

“The President’s office sent a reply to the central government last week. We have received the reply,” confirmed a state government official.

In March last year, the Supreme Court had confirmed the death sentence awarded to Memon, holding him guilty of being the “driving spirit” behind the blasts which killed 257 people, while commuting the death sentence awarded to 10 others to life imprisonment till their death. Memon then moved a clemency petition before the President in October last year.

A chartered accountant by profession, Memon was arrested in 1994. Gangster Dawood Ibrahim is also an accused in the serial blasts case. The government had recommended rejection of Memon’s mercy petition on the ground that it was an act of terrorism and did not qualify for pardon.

 

Mukherjee has so far rejected 11 mercy petitions. There are four other mercy petitions pending with the President at present.

rEAD more here- http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/president-rejects-mercy-petition-of-yakub-memon/