After the President of India rejected the mercy plea of Yakub Memon, prime accused in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, the Memons are contemplating further legal action, sources close to the family confirmed to The Hindu on Thursday.
The Memons, however, refused to speak to the media.
‘Not a full stop’ Legal experts say an accused has recourse to various options even after his mercy plea is rejected. “The field is open. It is a well-settled position in law that a rejection can be challenged on various grounds. There are various options which he can explore. Rejection is not a full stop,” said advocate Yug Mohit Chaudhry.
Advocate Vrinda Grover said an accused could file another mercy petition if there were additional grounds.
Asked if an accused could file a curative petition, experts said chances were limited if such recourse was taken. “In some cases, there is narrow scope for the condemned petitioner who can approach the court with a very limited scope of agitating on narrow grounds like the non-applicability of mind by His Excellency, and / or inordinate delay in disposal of the petition or such other extraordinary exceptional circumstances. Ordinarily, the life of litigation of a death convict assumes finality upon the disposal of mercy petition,” senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha member Majeed Memon said.
Yakub Memon was awarded the death sentence by a TADA court in 2007. He was held guilty of arranging finances for the other accused who took part in the conspiracy of 1993 blasts, in which more than 250 people were killed.
