1993 Mumbai Blasts: 20 years on, justice denied as SC stays Yakub Memon's death sentence

New Delhi, June 2: The blasts that took place in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1993 have not been forgotten. The series of 13 bomb blasts, coordinated by

, resulted in around 350 deaths and left over a thousand people injured.

After many years, the Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.

The apex court referred a plea that review petitions in death penalty cases should not be heard and decided in chamber proceedings to the to Constitution bench.

In October, 2013, Yakub applied for a presidential pardon following which, a report from the state government was sought by the Union home ministry. The mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 21.

The decision was taken by the President following recommendations of the Maharashtra government and the Union home ministry that the mercy petition of Memon be rejected.

Memon's mercy plea was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee on May 21

Yakub, a chartered accountant and brother of fugitive terror mastermind Tiger Memon, was sentenced to death by a TADA court in 2007 after being found guilty of charges of criminal conspiracy and for arranging finances and managing its disbursement through the co-accused in the Mumbai serial blasts.

Yakub was arrested from Kathmandu airport in 1994 and is undergoing treatment for depression.

He was later described by the TADA court as the mastermind who played a key role in the conspiracy, thus "warranting death penalty".

Yakub Memon, the brother of prime accused Tiger Memon, was charged for possession of unauthorised arms. After the blasts, family members of Tiger, including Yakub, escaped from Bombay to Dubai and Pakistan.

The CBI, which probed the blasts, alleged that the conspiracy was hatched by Dawood Ibrahim and other absconding persons, including Tiger Memon, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

With agency inputs

OneIndia News