The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the curative petition of the lone death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, saying his punishment adheres to the principles of natural justice.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice H.L. Dattu, Justices T.S. Thakur and Anil R. Dave said there were no factors which “adversely affected” Yakub Memon's right to a fair and unbiased trial.
A two-paragraph order passed by the bench in their chambers away from the public eye, said a curative plea would stand had Yakub Memon not been made a party in the lis (litigation) or being a party he was not issued notice of the lis or if the judge concerned was proved to have some prior “connection” with the case, which might give an apprehension of bias.
Since none of the three instances have been agitated or proved by Yakub Memon, the curative would not stand, the court held.
In April 2015, the Supreme Court had >dismissed Yakub Memon's plea seeking a review of his death penalty.
A bench led by Justice Dave had found no merits in the review petition filed by Yakub Memon.
“We find that all the arguments advanced by the review petitioner have been considered in detail in the judgement, which is sought to be reviewed. Hence, we do not find any error apparent on the face of record or any other ground so as to warrant interference in exercise of our review jurisdiction,” the court had held.
The decision came after extensive open court hearings conducted over a month in which Yakub Memon's counsel orally argued in detail against the death penalty imposed on him under TADA.
The court had also sought responses from the Maharashtra Special Task Force and the CBI on his plea seeking review of death penalty awarded to him.
The counsel appearing for Yakub Memon had said that neither the trial court nor the apex court gave special reasons for sending him to gallows.
“(His) entire conviction is based on retracted confessions of several co-accused,” his lawyer said.
The lawyer also alleged that Yakub Memon was convicted and then sentenced to death by the special TADA court even before the entire judgement was delivered, hence, his conviction was not valid.
The Supreme Court had earlier confirmed the death sentence awarded to Yakub Memon, the main accused and brother of Tiger Memon (the mastermind and absconding key conspirator), holding Yakub Memon guilty of being the “driving spirit” in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people.
