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Maharashtra denies Tiger Memon’s ‘revenge’ call

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Tiger Memon

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has denied that absconding mafia don Mushtaque alias Tiger Memon allegedly called up his mother and threatened to avenge his brother Yakub Memon’s hanging last week, top officials said here on Friday.

The Mumbai police, too, denied any such conversation as having taken place, as reported by a leading financial daily.

“We want to clarify that we don’t have such intercepted conversation and we also clarify that such said transcript is not of Mumbai police,” said DCP Dhananjay Kulkarni in a statement.

According to the report in the daily, Tiger Memon purportedly had a conversation with his mother Hanifa Memon at her Mahim residence here on July 30 around 5.30 a.m. – barely an hour before Yakub was hanged in Nagpur Central Jail.

In the conversation with a weeping Hanifa, Tiger Memon allegedly “vowed” to “avenge” his brother’s death and “make them pay for it”.

The newspaper has stated it is in possession of the transcript of the entire three-minute conversation conducted over the Internet, with the call bouncing from one IP address to another, making it difficult to track. It is not clear who recorded the mother-son dialogue.

(Agencies)

“Indian government has sent a wrong message by hanging an innocent man”: Chhota Shakeel

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chhota-shakeel-yakub memon

New Delhi: Soon after Yakub Memon was hanged for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, Chhota Shakeel, who is also an accused in the case and is known to be a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, reportedly warned of consequences of executing Yakub.

A report carried by Times of India (ToI) claims that Shakeel called up the newspaper’s office and said that Yakub’s hanging was a ‘legal murder’ and that the Indian government had betrayed him by punishing him for his brother Tiger Memon’s act.

Shakeel also reportedly said that by hanging Yakub, all possibilities of him and Dawood Ibrahim returning to India in exchange of promises of leniency have been ruled out. “Dawood bhai would have been meted the same fate if he would have come at that time… it is clear now,” the report quotes Shakeel.

He also alleged that the Indian government had sent a wrong message by hanging an ‘innocent’ man for his brother’s act. “It is a legal murder,” he said, adding, “There will be consequences.”

Shakeel also said that nobody would believe the Indian government or its agencies in future.

Shakeel also claimed that Yakub was in disagreement with his brother Tiger, the main accused, and had decided to follow the law. “Somebody trusted a government but the government breached the trust… Who will come back to get killed?”

He also claimed that Yakub had no links with Dawood Ibrahim. “He (Yakub) was accused of association with Dawood bhai. That’s not true,” Shakeel told ToI.

He also rubbished special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam’s purported statement that Yakub’s hanging was a ‘message’ to terrorists. “You are hanging innocents to convey a message to us,” Shakeel said.

(Agencies)

Asaduddin Owaisi says Kodnani and others should also get death

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asad-owaisi-on-memon

New Delhi: A political war of words erupted on Thursday over the execution of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, with a section of opposition leaders speaking against the death sentence.

Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh fired the first salvo, saying that the BJP- led government should show “similar commitment” in all cases of terror as it showed in the case of Yakub Memon.

“I hope similar commitment of the government and the judiciary would be shown in all cases of terror, irrespective of their caste, creed and religion,” he said in a tweet following Memon’s execution in the Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning.

Party colleague and former union minister Shashi Tharoor said he was “saddened” by Memon’s execution.

“Saddened by news that our government has hanged a human being. State-sponsored killing diminishes us all by reducing us to murderers too,” Tharoor tweeted.

“There is no evidence that death penalty serves as a deterrent, to the contrary in fact. All it does is exact retribution, unworthy of a government,” the Thiruvananthapuram parliamentarian said.

“I’m not commenting on the merits of a specific case; that’s for the Supreme Court to decide. Problem is death penalty in principle and practice,” he added.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D Raja, meanwhile, said that the death penalty should be done away with in the country.

“India should say an emphatic no to capital punishment…. It does not mean we do not have sympathy with those (blast victims’) families, but by snatching away one life will not bring back all those lives,” Raja said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should ensure death sentence in all similar cases.

“Death sentence should also be given to Babu Bajrangi, Maya Kodnani, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand,” he said.

While Babu Bajrangi and Maya Kodnani are accused in the Gujarat riots, Col. Purohit and Swami Aseemanand are accused in the Malegaon blast.

The ruling BJP slammed the leaders opposed to the hanging. Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh were forsaken by the Congress as well, which said it was their “personal views”.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the views were that of the leaders concerned and not of the Congress.

Former home secretary and BJP parliamentarian R K Singh said those making such comments did not have national interests on their minds.

“These people don’t think about national interest. Whether he (Yakub) had to be hanged or not was not to be decided by the government but the court, and the president uses his judgment after that…,” he said.

Minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said justice had been done.

“Justice has been done; this increased the people’s faith in the judicial process. He got two decades to prove his innocence, and he was proven guilty,” he said.

Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, convicted in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, was hanged at Maharashtra’s Nagpur central jail on Thursday morning.

(IANS)

Yakub Memon’s body handed over to family, tight security in Mumbai

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Yakub-Memon

Nagpur/Mumbai: The body of Yakub Memon, who was hanged in Nagpur this morning for his role in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, was handed over to his family which flew it to Mumbai for last rites amid tight security with city police disallowing any procession.

Security has been stepped up in Mumbai, especially in Mahim area where Yakub’s family resides as well as other sensitive localities of the metropolis, and over 400 people have been detained as a preventive measure.

Quick Response Teams of police, formed after the 26/11 terrorist attacks, have been deployed at a few places, including the Al Hussaini building where the Memon family lives and in Marine Lines, where the burial arrangements have been made.

“Yes Yakub Memon has been hanged at 7 AM sharp and his body is being handed over to his family,” Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. Yakub’s brother Suleiman and cousin Usman, who were camping in Nagpur since yesterday, received the body which was taken to airport and flown to Mumbai. The two boarded the same flight.

Suleiman had moved an application last evening to the Nagpur jail authorities requesting that the body be handed over to the family. The request was accepted and accordingly, the body was wrapped in ‘kafan’ (shroud) and placed in a tightly sealed coffin box.

Mumbai Police has not allowed Yakub’s family to carry the body in a procession and has made arrangements to perform the burial at a cemetery in Marine Lines, where heavy police force has been deployed.

“We have not permitted Yakub’s family to reach the cemetery in any procession taking into account law and order situation and only those very close to the family would be taking part in his last rites,” a senior police officer said.

“We have already gathered personal details of the people who would be with Yakub’s family,” he added. Since Yakub’s father Abdul Razzak and some other family members were buried at the Marine Lines cemetery, Yakub’s family has wished to perform his last rites there, another police officer said.

Alternative arrangements have also been made for burial at the Mahim cemetery, he said.

“We are monitoring and reviewing the security arrangements regularly,” Mumbai Police spokesperson Dhananjay Kulkarni said.

Mumbai Police have detained nearly 405 people as a preventive measure to maintain law and order in the wake of Yakub’s hanging. “All the people who are detained are on police record, who might disturb the communal harmony or create disturbance in the city,” said DCP (Detection) Dhananjay Kulkarni.

Police are also keeping a close eye on any inflammatory statement by religious or political leaders and have warned of strict action against anyone violating law. The burial will take place in a Muslim cemetery after the usual last prayer ‘Namaj-e-Janaja’ later today.

Tight security arrangements were made in and around the Central Prison in Nagpur. Quick Response Teams were deployed and authorities also clamped section 144 of CrPC (unlawful assembly) last evening.

A large number of onlookers gathered at some distance outside the jail. Yakub was hanged till death in the ‘Fansi Yard’ under supervision of Jail Superintendent Yogesh Desai.

A team of doctors declared him dead after about half-and-hour of the scheduled hanging, when his body was brought down.

Chief Judicial Magistrate of Nagpur M M Deshpande was present in the Fansi Yard.

She read out the operating part of the TADA court order which awarded capital punishment to Yakub before he was made to stand on a stool and the lever pulled by the hangman.

Yakub, who was the lone convict sent to gallows in the serial blasts which claimed 257 lives across the financial capital of country in 1993, lost a series of legal battles for stay on his execution.

(Agencies)

Yakub Memon hanged in Nagpur jail on his 54th birthday

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Yakub Memon

Nagpur: Yakub Abdul Razzak Memon, “convicted” in the March 12, 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, was hanged till death at the Nagpur Central Jail on Thursday morning, officials said.

He was sent to the gallows — on his 54th birthday on Thursday — after several of his court appeals and clemency petitions were rejected by various courts, including the Bombay High Court, the Supreme Court, the Maharashtra governor and the president of India.

Memon was hanged at 6.35 a.m. A medical team at the jail pronounced him dead a short while later. His body was sent for an autopsy by a medical team from a Nagpur government hospital, before being cleared for the last rites.

The last of the legal procedures continued till barely a couple of hours before the execution this morning before sunrise. Memon was the first — and only convict out of 100 in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case — whose hanging was upheld by the Supreme Court.

The death sentence of 11 others was commuted to life. A Mumbai Special Court had sentenced him to death in July 2007. The death warrant was issued by a Special TADA Court judge on April 29, scheduling the execution for July 30.

Maharashtra had started preparations for the noose for Memon almost three weeks ago.

Memon filed a fresh appeal in the Supreme Court, followed by a clemency plea with the Maharashtra governor, again a fresh plea in the apex court and a final appeal with the president of India.

He got no relief from any quarters, paving the way for his execution. The Supreme Court on early Thursday rejected a last ditch attempt by 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon to stall his execution.

Memon had challenged the rejection of his mercy petition by the president. Past midnight on Thursday, the apex court bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Prafulla C. Pant and Justice Amitava Roy rejected Memon’s plea seeking 14 days’ time before the execution of his death sentence is carried out.

Here is the timeline of the major events that took place in the last 24 hours:

10.35am (July 29): Three-judge bench of the SC starts hearing Memon’s plea after two judges gave a split order on Tuesday

11am: Memon submits a 14-page mercy petition to President Pranab Mukherjee’s office

4pm: SC dismisses Memon’s plea against his death warrant

4pm: Maharashtra governor rejects Memon’s mercy plea

4pm: President sends Memon’s mercy petition to home ministry for advice

8.30pm: Home minister Rajnath Singh drives to Rashtrapati Bhawan, conveys government’s decision to reject Memon’s mercy petition

9.15pm: Union home secretary LC Goyal and solicitor general Ranjit Kumar arrive at Rashtrapati Bhawan

10.45pm: President rejects mercy petition of Memon

10.50pm: Senior lawyers Prashant Bhushan and Anand Grover reach Chief Justice of India Justice HL Dattu’s residence with a fresh petition seeking stay of death warrant for the next 14 days

1am (July 30): Scene shifts to residence of senior SC judge justice Dipak Misra’s residence as senior lawyers Grover and Yug Mohit Chaudhry reach his residence

1.35am: Three judges – justice Misra, justice Pant and justice Roy – agree to meet at the Supreme Court at 2.30am.

2.30am: Judges arrive at the apex court. Hearing deferred over attorney general Mukul Rohtagi’s delay in arrival

3.20am: Hearing on Memon’s plea begins

4.50am: SC rejects Memon’s plea for a stay on the death warrant

5.30am: Memon is provided information as to why he is being hanged by a magistrate in the jail

7am: Memon hanged at Nagpur jail in Maharashtra around 7am. A medical team pronounced him dead a short while later.

9.30am: After doing all formalities by 9.30 am, Yakub’s elder brother, Suleiman and cousin, Usman Memon take the custody of the body and leave for the Nagpur airport by 9.45 am. The body would be taken to Mumbai for burial by a service flight.

(Agencies)

Supreme Court upholds death warranty against Yakub Memon

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Yakub Memon's photograph on his IGNOU records.

Yakub Memon’s photograph on his IGNOU records.

Mumbai: A three-member bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the death warrant issued against 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts convict Yakub Memon saying there was no lapse in the earlier dismissal of his curative petition.

Following the Supreme Court verdict, the Maharashtra Governor reportedly dismissed Memon’s mercy plea.

A mercy petition that lies with the President Pranab Mukherjee is the only hope Yakub Memon, who faces gallows tomorrow, is left with.

The bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra, before rising for lunch recess, said it will pronounce the order today itself, if the counsel for the parties “cooperate”. The arguments will continue after the lunch break.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachndran, appearing for Memon, initiated arguments by referring to the separate, divergent orders passed by Justice A R Dave and Justice Kurian Joseph yesterday and said that the procedures established by the law have not been followed while deciding the curative petition of the convict.

Ramachandran said, “The judges, who were part of judicial process earlier, must be party to curative petition. It cannot be decided by judges who are strangers to the matters.”

He further said that besides the three senior most judges, the curative petition should have been circulated to the judges, if available, who had decided the criminal appeal and the review petition.

Senior advocates T R Andhyarujina and Anand Grover both supported the contention of Ramachandran and said that this death warrant is illegal and can not be executed tomorrow.

A three-judge bench headed by CJI had on July 21 rejected Memon’s plea, contending that the grounds raised by him for relief did not fall within principles laid down by the apex court in 2002 in deciding curative petitions.

Memon, in his plea, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and has remained behind bars for nearly 20 years, much more than a person serving life term has to spend in jail.

He had sought commutation of death penalty, contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the death sentence for the same offence.

The apex court had on June 2, 2014 stayed the execution of Memon and referred his plea to a Constitution Bench as to whether review petitions in death penalty cases be heard in an open court or in chambers.

The apex court had on April 9 this year dismissed Memon’s petition seeking review of his death sentence which was upheld on March 21, 2013.

Memon’s review petition was heard by a three-judge bench in an open court in pursuance of the Constitution Bench verdict that the practice of deciding review pleas in chambers be done away with, in cases where death penalty has been awarded.

12 coordinated blasts had rocked Bombay, as the city was then known, on March 12, 1993, leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured.

(Agencies)

SC bench split over Yakub Memon’s plea, refers it to CJI

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Yakub Memon's photograph on his IGNOU records

Yakub Memon’s photograph on his IGNOU records

New Delhi: A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court today delivered a split verdict on a plea by Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the lone death convict in 1993 Mumbai blasts case, seeking stay of his scheduled execution on July 30 and referred the matter to the Chief Justice to take call on it.

While Justice A R Dave dismissed his plea, Justice Kurian Joseph stayed the death warrant issued on April 30 for his execution on July 30.

Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi and other senior advocates, including Raju Ramachandran, appearing for Memon, said that since the two judges have differed on staying the death warrant, “there will be no order in law if one judge has stayed it and the other has not”.

The bench referred the matter to Chief Justice of India H L Dattu to take an urgent call at 4 PM in view of the divergence of opinion on the issue of death warrant.

The bench also requested the Chief Justice to constitute an appropriate bench and list the matter for hearing tomorrow.

Justice Dave dismissed the petition filed by Memon and said it will be open for the Maharashtra Governor to dispose of his mercy plea before the scheduled date of execution of death warrant.

While rejecting the petition in which Memon has contended that the correct procedure was not adopted in deciding his curative petition on July 21, Justice Dave disagreed with Justice Kurian on the issue of staying death warrant issued by the TADA court in Mumbai on April 30.

“Sorry, I will not like to be part of staying the death warant. Let CJI decide,” Justice Dave said and quoted a couplet from Manu Smriti relevant to the issue.

Justice Kurian said he is expressing his inability to agree with Justice Dave as there is a “procedural violation” in deciding the curative petition filed by Memon.

Justice Kurian said once it is found that the procedure established under law is not followed while dealing with the curative petition, that too when the life of a person is concerned, and there is error apparent on the face that the mandatory process has not been followed, then such defects need to be cured.

While holding that Memon’s curative petition is required to be heard afresh, Justice Kurian referred to the order dismissing his curative petition, saying, “The curative petition itself was not decided in accordance with the rules laid down by this court. That defect needs to be cured otherwise there will be a clear violation of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.”

Justice Kurian said the technicalities involved in dealing with the matter should not stand in the way of justice being done to a person as this court under the Constitution is for the protection of life of a person.

He said, “The technicalities should not stand in the way as the law is for common man and also law is not helpless and this court should not be rendered powerless.”

He noted that Article 21 deals with the right to life of a person and same shall be deprived only in accordance with the procedure adopted by law.

“It has been noticed that the procedure by law was not followed in this case while depriving the right to life of a person,” he said.

(Agencies)

Muslim organisations in Karnataka appeal for cancelling death punishment to Yakub Memon

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(L-R) Umar Shariff (DIET), Mr. Mahir (MPJR), Syed Mohammed Iqbal (KMMM), Syed Shafiullah (JDS), Mr. Khalid (MPJR)

(L-R) Umar Shariff (DIET), Mr. Mahir (MPJR), Syed Mohammed Iqbal (KMMM), Syed Shafiullah (JDS), Mr. Khalid (MPJR)

Bengaluru: A collective of Karnataka-based Muslim organisations including, Mission Possible for Justice & Rights (MPJR), Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz (KMMM), Discover Islam Education Trust (DIET), All India Dawah Centres Association (AIDCA) and Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Tehreek (KMMT) today urged the Centre not to hang 1993 Mumbai blast death row convict Yakub Memon.

Addressing the press here, Mr. Umar Shariff, president of DIET said that, “Yakub Memon has already spent around 22 years behind the bars for the role which has not even been clearly or convincingly established. He or his family should not be punished for the alleged crimes of his brother”.

Referring to the view of the late head of the counter-terrorism division of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) B Raman, who had favoured clemency for Yakub Memon on the ground that he had cooperated with investigating agencies and does not deserve to be hanged, Syed Shafiullah of Janatal Dal (Secular) urged the government to commute the death penalty to life sentence, for if carried out, it would not serve the interests of justice.

He also presented former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Markandey Katju, who last week said that the evidence on which Memon has been found guilty is “very weak”, and there has been “gross travesty of justice” in the case.

Syed Mohammed Iqbal, general secretary of the Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, questioned what he termed as ‘double standard’ practiced in the decision to hang Menon.

“Justice B N Srikrishna’s report, submitted in 1998, had named Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray as the man who directed the violence in the January 1993 phase of the riots, which claimed the lives of over 900 innocent people, yet he was given a state funeral. He pointed out that those scheduled to hang for two other crimes, the assassinations of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, have not yet been hanged. All we are asking is to give Memon the same clemency that these people have been granted.”

The organisation stated that there many in the country, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI, MDMK and others, who feel feel that Yaqub Memon should not be hanged.

Yakub Memon seeks stay of execution of his death sentence

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Yakub-Memon

New Delhi: Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, the sole death row convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking stay of execution of his death sentence scheduled for July 30.

Memon, in his petition said that all legal remedies have not been exhausted and he has also approached the Maharashtra Governor with a plea for mercy.

He had filed the mercy plea before the Governor immediately after his curative petition was dismissed by the apex court on Tuesday.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu had on July 21 rejected Memon’s plea saying that the grounds raised by him does not fall within the principles laid down by the apex court in 2002 in deciding the curative petition, the last judicial remedy available to an aggrieved person.

Memon, in his plea, had claimed he was suffering from schizophrenia since 1996 and remained behind the bars for nearly 20 years. He had sought commutation of death penalty contending that a convict cannot be awarded life term and the extreme penalty simultaneously for the same offence.

The apex court on April 9 this year had dismissed Memon’s petition seeking review of his death sentence which was upheld on March 21, 2013.

Memon’s review petition was heard by a three-judge bench in an open court in pursuance of a Constitution bench verdict that the practice of deciding review pleas in chambers be done away with, in cases where death penalty has been awarded.

The apex court, on June 2, 2014, had stayed the execution of Memon and referred his plea to a Constitution bench as to whether review petitions in death penalty cases be heard in an open court or in chambers.

Memon had sought review of the March 21, 2013 verdict of the apex court upholding his death penalty in the case relating to 13 coordinated bomb blasts in Mumbai, killing 257 persons and injuring over 700 on March 12, 1993.

(PTI)

Are gallows also for Mumbai riot convicts, Hindutva terrorists, asks Asaduddin Owaisi

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asad-owaisi-on-memon

Mumbai: In a contemptuous attack on the BJP led government for its decision to hang 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon, Parliamentarian Asaduddin Owaisi Wednesday wondered if the same punishment will also be given to the perpetrators of Babri Masjid demolition, Mumbai and other riot convicts, and Hindutva terrorists.

“Why haven’t the perpetrators of Babri Masjid demolition been convicted, and will they also be given the capital punishment, as that (demolition of the Babri Masjid) is the original sin”, Owaisi, a barrister who is the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), said while talking to ummid.com on phone.

Owaisi was commenting on the hanging of Yakub Memon which is slated on July 30 – his birthday. Yakub Memon – a Chartered Accountant, had surrendered with his family members before the Indian authorities after the 1993 Mumbai blasts which had killed over 250 people. The series of blasts took place soon after the deadly riots that followed the demolition of Babri Masjid by Hindu fanatics.

Stating that Sri Krishna Commission report has been kept in cold storage first by the Congress and now by the BJP, Owaisi said, “About one thousand people were killed in communal riots that followed the Babri Masjid demolition. Many police officers were booked under grievous charges, including murder. How many were convicted? All went scot-free.”

Owaisi however declined any comment on Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss Memon’s curative petition saying, ‘it exonerated the Muslims accused in the Akshardham terror attack’.

Owaisi also asked if the Hindutva terrorists – now in jail for their involvements in the Samjhouta Express, Malegaon, Hyderabad Makkah Masjid and Ajmer blasts, will also be given the same punishment as Yakub Memon.

“Will Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Col Purohit and Swami Aseemanand get capital punishment. This is upto the NIA to prove their guilt in courts”, Owaisi said.

Drawng parallel between Mumbai blasts and Rajive Gandhi assassination, Owaisi said the killers were shown mercy because they have political backing.

“Rajiv Gandhi and Beant Singh killers have backing of political parties. That is why they have not been sent to gallows”, he said.

Recalling how Memon surrendered before the Indian authorities and helped in the investigations, Owaisi said, “I agree with Siddharth Vardharajan (noted journalist) who said that why hang Yakub Memon when he proved Pakistani involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombing.”

Owaisi also said that Maya Kodnani and Babu Bajrangi – both convicted to life for killing 97 Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots, but the Modi government did not allow appeal to enhance their punishment to death.

(Ummid)

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