1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon to be hanged on July 30

[Hindustani78]

1993 blasts convict Yakub Memon to be hanged on July 30
Nagpur, July 15, 2015 (IANS)

Yakub Memon, one of the prime accused in March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial bombs explosion, will be hanged on July 30 for his role in the terror blasts, official sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said he will be hanged in Nagpur Central Jail, where he is currently lodged, following the recent rejection of his mercy petition by the president, an official, who declined to be identified, said.

Memon, 53, was awarded the death sentence by a Special TADA Court in Mumbai in 2007 for his role of arranging for finances for the carrying out the 13 serial blasts which left 257 dead and over 700 injured across the city.

Subsequently, Memon - the brother of one of the main absconding accused Tiger Memon - appealed against the sentence in the Bombay High Court, Supreme Court and later filed a mercy petition with the president.

 

[indianBong]

do it fast..... and shoot them who criticises the verdict and supports him.......

 

[Hindustani78]

Mixed response on abolition of death penalty in India | Zee News

Last Updated: Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 20:42

New Delhi: A discussion on a Law Commission consultation paper on whether capital punishment should be retained or abolished today evoked a mixed response.

While former President APJ Abdul Kalam, DMK leader Kanimozhi and former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, supported the abolition of death penalty, several others, including SC Bar Association's Dushyant Dave favoured retaining the capital punishment.

The Law Commission today organised a day-long consultation on the issue of abolition of death penalty in India, which was part of its over year-long process to garner views and suggestion before submitting its report to the Supreme Court.

Several of those who responded to the consultation paper, bourght out by Law Commission last year, and experts who participated in today's consultation sought a more unambiguous definition of 'rarest of rare' case where death penalty can be handed down by the courts.

In his inaugural address, Gopalkrishna Gandhi while opposing death penalty said ending life of a person was a "perk" available to a State.

He said the State should investigate crime and not use "shortcuts" like execution for "gratification".

"A man hanged cannot look back and say, oh I have been hanged," he said, supporting abolition of death penalty.

Justice (retd) Bilal Nazki said the principle of 'rarest of the rare' case was being applied arbitrarily in certain cases because people, including judges, carry "baggage".

He lamented that those being elevated to higher courts do not get education to deal with sensitive subjects.

Justice Nazki also blamed "media interference" which weighs on the minds of the judges.

Congress leader Manish Tewari, also a senior lawyer, said the President should not take a lot of time in deciding on clemency petitions as the case has gone through judicial and executive processes before reaching him.

He said the present incumbent at Rashtrapati Bhawan was more clear in his approach in dealing with such cases as compared to his predecessors when several such petitions were pending.

He said experts should discuss whether institutional process or personal predilection of the President should weigh in such cases.

Congress MP and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor proposed an educated debate on the issue in Parliament saying an informed decision was necessary on the subject.

Journalist Ashish Khetan said if agencies do not carry out proper investigation, they use death penalty as a "tool" to appease public sentiments.

Former President Kalam opposed death penalty in his views sent to the Law Commission. He had said deciding on capital punishment was one of the most difficult tasks for him as President.

Quoting from his book "Turning Points", Kalam said "one of the more difficult tasks for me as President was to decide on the issue of confirming capital punishment awarded by courts... To my surprise... Almost all cases which were pending had a social and economic bias."

According to the Commission, those who support retention of capital punishment felt its strong need in cases where the sanctity of the society was violated.

They have argued that those convicted for capital offences do not deserve an opportunity for reformation, and at times are indifferent to reform.

Retentionists, the Commission said, also believe that the State does not commit an act of revenge, making criminal law personal, but was engaging in the protection of the moral conscience of society.

Abolitionists argued that the issue deserves not an emotional but a rational evaluation. They believe that a less severe sentence will give offenders an opportunity to reform themselves after realising the magnitude of the crime.

For them, the primary purpose of the judicial system should be to reform than punish as nobody is "born criminal."

PTI

***************
Death penalty is privilege of poor, says Law Commission head | Zee News
Last Updated: Saturday, July 11, 2015 - 19:25

New Delhi: Noting that poor and downtrodden usually go to the gallows, Chairman of the Law Commission of India Justice AP Shah has said there was a "serious" need to re-examine the death penalty in the country.


"It is usually the poor and downtrodden who are subject to death penalty. Death penalty is the privilege of the poor.

"There are inconsistencies in the system and there is a need for an alternative model to sentencing crimes and a serious need to re-examine the death penalty in India," Justice Shah, a former Delhi High Court Judge, said.

Justice Shah was speaking at a lecture on 'Universal Abolition of Death Penalty: A Human Rights Imperative', by Professor Roger Hood of University of Oxford.

The event was organised by Law Commission of India in association with O P Jindal Global University (OPJGU) and National Law University.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor C Raj Kumar, Vice Chancellor of OPJGU, said,"The most significant aspect of death penalty is its irreversibility. India's penal and criminal jurisprudence calls for inquiry and reflection in the morality and effectiveness of death penalty and needs to move towards ultimate abolishment."

Expressing his views, Professor Hood pointed out that only two executions have been carried out by India since 2004, both for terrorist attack --- that of Ajmal Kasab in 2012 and Afzal Guru in 2013.

"In both the cases, the executive was criticised for carrying out the executions on secrecy and failing to ensure that due regard was accorded to human dignity," he said and questioned if it was justifiable to retain death penalty for such crimes.

PTI

do it fast..... and shoot them who criticises the verdict and supports him.......

In reality the problem is different.

Terrorism is of many kinds , armed terrorism and financial terrorism and in both cases its being used by the proxy groups.

D Gang was mafia group and they were assisted by neighboring country which was mainly to create problems for the Indian economy and were indulged directly against Indian establishment.

 

[OrionHunter]

do it fast..... and shoot them who criticises the verdict and supports him.......

Abu Azmi did! The bloody SOB!

 

[indianBong]

Mixed response on abolition of death penalty in India | Zee News

death penalty should be abolished..... instead long life term punishment shoud be given (non parole).. death is like getting freen from sufferings.... criminals should suffer....

Abu Azmi did! The bloody SOB!

IB must check his bank account..... must have overseas transfer of money...

 

[Hindustani78]

death penalty should be abolished..... instead long life term punishment shoud be given (non parole).. death is like getting freen from sufferings.... criminals should suffer....

There are countries where there is no death penalty and murderers easily get out after 13 years in prisons and again continue the same. Be it smugglers, terrorists and even those who commit crimes against females and kids.

There have been some cases of serial killers and rapists.

Different countries are having different laws and here i am not denying that Life is precious and have to be safeguard.

Criminals in majority of cases make innocent people to suffer.

 

[Jai_Hind]

What should we call a person who Kills 257 and leaves
over 700 injured, certainly not a murderer... Hanging him is nothing compared to his sins... This guy deserves a KSA style, mediaval era, stoning to death.... one stone from each of the victim family....

 

[ganesh177]

So arse hole is stll alive For what

 

[Hindustani78]

What should we call a person who Kills 257 and leaves
over 700 injured, certainly not a murderer... Hanging him is nothing compared to his sins... This guy deserves a KSA style, mediaval era, stoning to death.... one stone from each of the victim family....

Don't play communal politics over Yakub Memon issue: Shiv Sena | Zee News
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - 19:57

Mumbai: Amid reports that 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, who is on death row, will be hanged this month-end, Shiv Sena today said political parties should refrain from playing communal politics over this sensitive issue.

"Yakub Memon has been tried and convicted by the trial court and his mercy petition has been rejected by the President of India," Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLC Dr Neelam Gorhe told reporters at Vidhan Bhavan here.

"Political parties and people should not indulge in partisan and communal politics over such a sensitive issue. The 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts resulted in many people losing their lives and getting permanently injured. Many families were destroyed due to the blasts," she said.

The Sena legislator said the Centre and the state government will take appropriate decision on the issue in accordance with the provisions of the law.

"Stringent punishment should be meted out to those who commit such heinous crimes," she said.

Replying to Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi's remark in which he said why Memon's execution date was being announced through media when there was so much secrecy over date of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru's hanging, Gorhe said, "The allegation that Maharashtra government was trying to resort to some marketing in this case is completely wrong."

However, Yuva Sena president Aditya Thackeray, who came to meet Minister for School Education Vinod Tawde at the Vidhan Bhavan today, denied to comment on the issue.

Media reports said the execution will take place if Memon's plea is rejected by the Supreme Court, after his appeals against the death sentence were rejected by the apex court and by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Memon is lodged in Nagpur Central Jail, which reportedly has facility to carry out capital punishment.

According to a senior prison official, any decision on the date of hanging will depend on the outcome of the curative petition in SC.

Memon, a key conspirator with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, is one of ten convicts awarded death penalty by a special TADA court.

His death sentence was upheld by a Supreme Court bench on March 21, 2013.

PTI

 

[Hindustani78]

• 
  The Bombay Stock Exchange building that was damaged in the 1993 blasts. — FILE PHOTO: THE HINDU

If Yakub Memon was sent to the gallows it would send a strong message to society: Special Public Prosecutor.
Amid reports that 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, who is on death row, will be hanged this month end, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said his government would follow the directives of the Supreme Court on the issue.

“Whatever we do will be made public at an appropriate time,” said Mr. Fadnavis, who is in New Delhi.

“The Supreme Court has made a decision on this issue. Whatever directives will be given by the court, the Maharashtra government will act according to that. We will provide more information on this matter when the time is right,” he said.

If the execution is carried out, it will be the first in connection with the blasts that rocked Mumbai resulting in the death of over 250 people in 1993.

Media reports had said the execution would take place if Memon’s plea is rejected by the Supreme Court, after his appeals against the death sentence were rejected by the apex court and by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Memon is lodged in Nagpur Central Jail, which reportedly has facility to carry out capital punishment.

A senior prison official told PTI that any decision on the date of hanging would depend on the outcome of the curative petition in the Supreme Court.

Memon, a key conspirator with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, is one of the 10 convicts awarded death penalty by a special TADA court.

His death sentence was upheld by a Supreme Court Bench on March 21, 2013.

Meanwhile, Special Public Prosecutor in the case Ujjwal Nikam said that if the prime conspirator, Yakub Memon, was sent to the gallows, it would send a strong message to society.

“During the trial of 1993 serial blasts, it was proved that the conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan and some persons [Indians] were sent to Karachi via Dubai,” Mr. Nikam told PTI.

Though Pakistan’s hand in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts was established, the world did not believe it, he said.

“After the 26/11 case, it is now proved that terrorism is sponsored by Pakistan,” Mr. Nikam added.

No communal politics: Sena

The Shiv Sena said political parties should refrain from playing communal politics over this sensitive issue.“Yakub Memon has been tried and convicted by the trial court and his mercy petition has been rejected by the President of India,” Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLC Neelam Gorhe told reporters in Mumbai.

“Political parties and people should not indulge in partisan and communal politics over such a sensitive issue. The 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts resulted in many people losing their lives and getting permanently injured. Many families were destroyed due to the blasts,” she said.

“Stringent punishment should be meted out to those who commit such heinous crimes,” she said.

 

[[Bregs]]

At last justice prevails although late

 

[Hindustani78]

SC verdict paving way for Yakub hanging hailed | Zee News
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 21, 2015 - 18:57



Mumbai: The Supreme Court verdict clearing the way for the execution of Yakub Memon, the only person condemned to death in 1993 Mumbai blasts, was widely welcomed on Tuesday as historic and which would send a message that those who indulge in terror acts against India will be hanged.


"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a message that those who indulge in terror acts against India will be hanged. I welcome this message and I thank the Prime Minister," senior Shiv Sena leader Ramdas Kadam told reporters.

Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi said he welcomed the apex court verdict with "bowed head".

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who had led the prosecution team during the Mumbai blast trial in TADA Court, said the dismisal of the Memom's curative petition was "historic" and that it would send a "strong signal" to the people in the country and across the border that the guilty would not be spared.

Fugitive accused in this case, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon (brother of Yakub), who are suspected to be hiding in Pakistan, would learn a lesson from this verdict that no one was above the law and would have to pay for his act, Nikam told PTI while welcoming the SC judgement.

The Government of India would get a boost with this judgement to prevail upon the international community to bring pressure on Pakistan to deport Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon who had allegedly masterminded the bomb blasts in which 257 people were killed and 713 were injured, Nikam said.

BJP leader NC Shaina said the apex court verdict has sent a message that terror has no place in our society.

Special TADA Court Judge PD Kode, who conducted the trial, termed the rejection of the curative plea as "a solace" after 22 years and a victory for those who believe in the rule of the law".

"The Supreme Court judgment shows that indulging in criminal activities is not a profitable business. As far as India is concerned, we don't tolerate the people who play with the valuable fundamental rights of the citizens enshrined in the Constitution," Kode said.

Eminent criminal lawyer Ram Jethmalani said the verdict was a "welcome step".

Tushar Deshmukh, who lost his mother in the blasts, said

his family is "really happy" since they were waiting for 22 years for the final verdict.

NCP member and criminal lawyer Majid Memon felt that it was not right on the part of Maharashtra government to prepare for the hanging of Yakub Memon amid reports that July 30 has been fixed for the execution.

Amnesty International said the rejection of Memon's curative petition was "disappointing" as it indicates a "regressive trend" of continuing the death penalty in India.

PTI

 

[SwAggeR]

Yakub Memon isn't poor by any stretch of imagination . How can any associate of D company be poor ??He had access to the best of lawers to defend himself. Now people will say even Sanjay Dutt is poor, who got 5 year term under Terrorism And other Disruptive Activities prevention act for just possessing AK.I bet he wouldn't have aimed that weapon even on fly.But that is TADA for you.

You plot to kill hundreds of your own people and at same time play into the hands of foreign country to target Financial capital of India then you expect your country to forgive you ?? What about right to justice of hundreds of family members who lost their dear ones on that unfatefull day ??

Those chorus singers singing today for clemency and humanitarian values sung in similar fashion even when Kasab was to be hanged. Nationality is the only difference between Yakub and Kasab, but our laws doesn't differentiate on those grounds.

 

[saurav]

Although I am unsure about state hanging its own people, I am all for hanging mass murderers like this ch***ya.. If hanging a terrorist irks you, GTFO India..

 

[Bang Galore]

Now people will say even Sanjay Dutt is poor, who got 5 year term under Terrorism And other Disruptive Activities prevention act for just possessing AK.I bet he wouldn't have aimed that weapon even on fly.But that is TADA for you.

Sanjay Dutt is lucky (more that his father fell at everyone's feet to save his son). Sanjay Dutt was not convicted under TADA when he actually should have been. He would have got 10 years automatically. Your argument that he would not have harmed a fly is silly, he was able to wield enough influence with guys like Dawood Ibrahim that he was given 3 AK56 rifles & a box of grenades (he returned the grenades & 2 of the rifles later). Speaks volumes about the influence he had with the D-gang.

1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon hanging unlikely on July 30

• Satya Prakash, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
  |
• Updated: Jul 22, 2015 11:15 IST

Yakub Memon, the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts convict, at a TADA court. (Kunal Patil/HT file photo)

• By filing a fresh personal mercy plea before the President, Yakub Memon -- the only convict sentenced to death in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case -- may have managed to delay his hanging.
  
  On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected a curative petition -- the last legal remedy available to a convict -- filed by Memon and set July 30 for his execution. But it emerges now that an earlier verdict of the Supreme Court in the matter of mercy pleas may come in the way of sticking to the date set for Memon’s execution,
  
  Hours after an SC bench led by Chief Justice HL Dattu gave its ruling, Memon -- younger brother of prime accused Tiger Memon -- handed over to authorities at Nagpur’s Central Prison a personal mercy plea to be forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee. A similar plea earlier had been rejected by Mukherjee in April 2014, but that was filed on Memon’s behalf by brother Suleiman.
  
  Anil Gedam and lawyer Shubal Farooquei, along with his cousin Usman Memon, met Memon and decided to file the petition. “He has moved the plea for mercy because the first one was filed by his brother. This is the first mercy petition filed by Yakub,” said Gedam.
  
  Even if his fresh mercy plea is rejected by the President, Memon cannot be hanged on July 30 in view of a Supreme Court verdict that prescribes a 14-day gap between rejection of mercy plea of a death row convict and his execution.
  
  “It is necessary that a minimum period of 14 days be stipulated between the receipt of communication of the rejection of the mercy petition and the scheduled date of execution,” the SC said in a verdict in January 2014.
  
  “This will allow the prisoner to prepare himself mentally for execution and have a final meeting with his family members. It is for the jail superintendent to see that the family members of the convict receive the communication rejection of mercy petition in time,” a three-judge bench headed by then CJI P Sathasivam had said.
  
  “Right to seek for mercy under Article 72/161 of the Constitution is a constitutional right and not at the discretion or whims of the executive. Every Constitutional duty must be fulfilled with due care and diligence; otherwise judicial interference is the command of the Constitution for upholding its values,” the top court had noted.
  
  
  
  
  
  The SC had said all states should inform the prisoner and their family members of the rejection of the petition by the President. It emphasised that since the availability of court verdicts and other related documents were a necessary prerequisite to the accessing of these rights, it was necessary that copies of relevant documents should be furnished to the prisoner within a week by the prison authorities to assist in making mercy petition and petitioning the courts.
  
  The court’s ruling that a convict has a right to challenge the rejection of the mercy petition can further delay Memon’s execution, as he will challenge the rejection of his second mercy plea as well.
  
  According to the SC verdict, the government is obliged to provide him legal aid at every stage. Jail superintendents have to intimate the rejection of mercy petitions to the nearest legal aid centre, apart from informing the convicts.
  
  Legal experts said Memon had every right to file a mercy plea. “Not only can he file the first mercy plea, but also a second, third and a fourth one. All these desperate mercy pleas continue to be made right till the end. In the US, sometimes it is filed a few hours before the scheduled execution. Each mercy plea has to be disposed of and the disposal communicated to the court concerned, even if it is in the middle of the night,” said senior advocate KTS Tulsi.
  
  Advocate Farhana Shah, who had represented many of the accused in the 1993 blasts, said, “If the petition remains pending till the date fixed by the state, the sentence cannot be executed.”
  
  Manjula Rao, a designated senior counsel, suggested that the state government have a little more patience. “If the petition has been filed, the state should wait a decision is taken. Meanwhile, the President should decide on the petition expeditiously,” Rao said.
  
  A series of blasts had shook Mumbai on the afternoon of March 12, 1993 after 12 bomb explosions went off one after the other at different locations, including Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Air India Building etc., killing 257 and seriously injuring 713 people. The Supreme Court, while upholding his death penalty in 2007, said Yakub Memon was the "driving spirit" behind the attacks.