Public opinion was split down in the middle about Yakub Memon’s death sentence. Justice for the lone 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict was hanging by a thread.
A fine thread.
In an unprecedented turn of events, at 3 am this morning, the Supreme Court of India opened the doors of Court Room Number 4 to hear a fresh mercy plea by a battery of lawyers representing a convicted terrorist in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon. Two hours later his fate was sealed.
Tuesday
Cut back to Tuesday. In the light of a disagreement between a two judge bench hearing the case to stay Yakub Memon’s execution on July 30, the Chief Justice of India, HL Dattu constituted a larger bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy to discuss Memon’s plea again.
Wednesday 11 am
At 11 am on Wednesday morning, one day before the slated hanging, Yakub Memon, filed a fresh mercy plea with the President of India.
4:30 pm
At 4:30 pm on Wednesday, the three judge Supreme Court bench dismissed Yakub Memon’s petition and within minutes of that the Supreme Court also dismissed Yakub Memon’s plea against the scheduled execution on Thursday.
5:30 pm
At 5:30 pm, the mercy plea filed with the President is sent to the Union Home Ministry as a routine procedure.
6 pm
At 6 pm the Maharashtra Governor, C Vidyasagar Rao also rejects the mercy petition of Yakub Memon under Article 161.
9 pm
At 9 pm, the Home Minister Rajnath Singh personally takes the file and goes to meet President Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the mercy plea. This meeting is also attended by Home Secretary L C Goyal and Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar.
11 pm
At 11 pm, President Pranab Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea. This ascertains that Yakub Memon will hang at 7 am at the Nagpur Jail. Around this time, a police constable delivered a letter to Yakub’s brother Suleiman at a hotel in Nagpur in Maharashtra.
The Midnight Drama
But the drama doesn’t end there. In a dramatic turn of events, Yakub Memon moves the Supreme Court. His lawyers urging the President to not take a decision overnight.
A battery of lawyers including Prashant Bhushan, Anand Grover, Vrinda Grover, Nitya Ramakrishnan and Yug Choudhary representing Yakub Memon were spotted at the residence of CJI Dattu seeking a stay on the execution. Citing a Supreme Court judgement in the Shatrughan Chouhan VS Union of India case, a fresh petition was filed with the CJI seeking at least a 14 day clear gap between the rejection of mercy petition of the convict and the hanging. Just then the registrar of the Supreme Court is also seen at the home of the CJI. Reports emerged that in a remarkable move, the CJI has agreed to hear the plea at 2:30 am.
Thursday 2 am
At 2 am, in an even more remarkable move, the CJI constitutes the same three member bench headed by Justice Deepak Misra which rejected the plea earlier in the day to hear the fresh plea inside the premises of the Supreme Court. The lights are turned on and the Supreme Court of India opens its doors for a battery of lawyers, journalists and protestors to hear Yakub Memon’s plea just hours before his slated hanging in Nagpur.
3 am
At 3 am, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi enters court room no.4 and the hearing begins. Yakub Memon’s lawyers argue that the earlier mercy plea was filed by his brother, today’s plea was his own. Since the plea has been rejected today, the mandated 14 day period before the hanging must begin today. The Attorney General retorts that multiple mercy petitions are an abuse of the system.
5 am
The Supreme Court dismisses the petition filed by Yakub Memon. Dipak Misra says it would be a travesty of justice if more time is wasted in hearing the plea of a man guilty and convicted of killing hundreds of people.
Irrespective of the culmination of events, the Supreme Court has served remarkably well by opening its doors even at the eleventh hour.
Preparations On For Hanging
Meanwhile in Nagpur Central Prison,Yakub’s hanging is scheduled for 7 am in Nagpur Central Prison on his 53rd birthday as per the TADA court’s order. Authorities have imposed Section 144 within 500 meter radius of the jail.
Prison sources said preparations were completed to carry out the execution amid tight security. The jailer said Yakub is fit to be hanged. According to the jail manual, Memon will be woken up early in the morning, allowed to take a bath and offered some snacks. He would be given religious books to read or recite prayers.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)