Yakub Memon's execution may delay as Supreme Court refers petition to a larger bench

Chief Justice of India HL Dattu constituted a three-judge bench to hear afresh Yakub’s petition that challenges the death warrant issued by a trial court for his execution on July 30 before the apex court passed its judgement on his  curative petition.

Justices A R Dave and Kurian Joseph differed on the issue of entertaining Yakub's plea  and hence the case was referred to a larger bench for disposal.

While Justice AR Dave dismissed his petition, justice Kurien Joseph disagreed, saying Yakub’s curative petition needed to be heard afresh as it was dismissed without following correct procedure and rules laid down by the top court.

“A defect in deciding curative petition needs to be cured otherwise there will be clear violation of right to life of the convict under Article 21 of the Constitution,” justice Joseph said.

On Tuesday, Yakub also filed a fresh petition challenging the validity of the SC’s July 21 order rejecting his curative petition.

Ahead of his hanging Memon had filed a petition claiming that relevant  procedure of awarding death sentence was flouted in his case.

Memon, the first convict sentenced to death row in the one of the worst terror attack cases in the country has said in his petition that a a lower court's death warrant against him was issued before he exhausted all the legal remedies available to him under the law- which is violation of the existing law.
An accountant by profession, Memon also filed a mercy petition before the Maharashtra government immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court last week.

On July 21, the SC rejected a curative petition by Yakub, saying it was void of merit. On the same day, he filed a mercy petition before the Maharashtra governor seeking commutation of his death sentence to life imprisonment.

The apex court by its March 21, 2013 verdict upheld his death sentence while commuting the death sentence of 10 others to life imprisonment. The court on April 9 again dismissed Yakub's plea for the review of his death sentence, as it had earlier dismissed a similar plea seeking a recall of its March verdict.

Yakub and 11 others were given  death penalty by a special TADA court in July 2007 for the dozen explosions that ripped through Mumbai in 1993, killing nearly 260 people at various landmarks and leaving more than 700 injured.

Yakub was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, arranging money for buying vehicles used by the bombers and organising air tickets to Dubai for some of them.