SC verdict draws curtain on 1993 Mumbai serial blasts trial

IANS/New Delhi/Mumbai

Upholding the death sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, currently lodged in Nagpur Jail, and commuting the death sentences of 10 to life terms, the Supreme Court yesterday drew the final curtain on the March 12, 1993, Mumbai serial blasts case.

A bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice B S Chauhan also upheld the conviction of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt under the Arms Act and sentenced him to five years’ jail.

The serial blasts, a revenge for the December 1992-January 1993 communal carnage in Mumbai which followed the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, were carried out in a precise, cold-blooded manner at 12 prime locations, leaving around 257 dead and stunning the nation that warm Friday afternoon.

Though the Mumbai police managed to crack the case within 48 hours, Yakub Memon, his elder brother, the dreaded Mushtaque Abdul Razzak Memon alias ‘Tiger’, Ayub Memon and their families quietly slipped out of the country a few hours after the blasts. Except Yakub, the others have remained beyond the reach of Indian and international law enforcing agencies.

Yakub, now aged around 50, one of his brothers and their families, however, later returned to India and surrendered to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in New Delhi.

According to one of their lawyers, Subhash Kanse, they believed that they had nothing to do with the serial explosions and hence decided to end their lives on the run and face the law.

In its verdict dealing with the appeals of the convicts as well from the Maharashtra government for enhancement of sentences, the court also slammed Pakistan for aiding and abetting the acts of terrorism in infringement of international obligation as a member of the UN.

The legal battle began when in September 2006, the trial court in Mumbai handed out its first judgment after nearly 13 years into the case, awarding death penalties to several of the 189 accused, life sentences for many, and other punishments to the rest of the accused, including Dutt.

Tiger Memon, his brother Ayub Memon, their families and India’s most wanted don, Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar - considered the co-architect of the serial blasts - are reportedly still hiding in Pakistan.