The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon any relief as it rejected both his petitions, even as the Maharashtra Governor rejected his second mercy petition, paving the way for his execution on 30 July.

Memon had moved SC seeking quashing of the death warrant issued against him by a special Tada court of Mumbai on 30 April claiming that he had not exhausted all his legal remedies when he was awarded the death penalty. He had also sought a stay on his execution.

The three-judge Bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy, constituted by Chief Justice HL Dattu, heard the pleas one after the other in the afternoon and rejeceted them.

Dismissing both of Memon's pleas, the larger Bench of SC said there was no procedural lapse in awarding him the death sentence. The Bench also declared the verdict on curative petition as valid. Earlier, Justice Kurian Joseph had said "there is a procedural violation in the way curative petition was decided".

Justice Jospeh was part of the two-judge Bench, which was initially assigned by the CJI to hear Memon's two pleas filed on Thursday. However, Justices Joseph and AR Dave -- the second justice on the Bench -- differed in their opinions on staying Memon's hanging. Thus, they passed a common order referring the matter to CJI Dattu and urging to constitute an "appropriate Bench" for the hearing.

Yakub to be executed on 30 July

As the SC Bench dismissed Memon's plea seeking stay on his execution, he will be hanged in Nagpur Central Prison at 7 am on 30 July, according to news reports.

However, senior lawyer KTS Tulsi said he cannot be hanged if his mercy plea is pending with the President, ANI reports.

On Wednesday, Memon filed a third mercy petition before President Pranab Mukherjee despite the fact that he had rejected his first plea seeking pardon. President Mukherjee is yet to decide on Memon's second mercy plea, which is being reviewed by the Union Home Ministry, reports NDTV.

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11:10 am: Yakub Memon files fresh mercy plea before the President on 29 July.

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Memon had filed the petition on Thursday and the SC had agreed on Friday to hear the plea for which it assigned a Bench, comprising Justices AR Dave and Kurian Joseph. Both the Justices heard his plea on Monday and as they differed in the their opinions on staying Memon's execution, they on Tuesday referred the matter to the CJI.

While Justice Dave was firm on his stand that Memon should be executed, Justice Joseph contended that Memon's Right to Life will be violated if his curative petition is not heard once again. Jospeh said that Memon's curative plea was rejected without following the correct procedure.

"I express my inability to agree with Justice Dave as there is a procedural violation in the way curative petition was decided. 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," India Today quoted Justice Joseph as saying.

"As per the SC rules, curative petitions shall be first circulated to a bench of three senior-most judges and the judges who passed the judgment complained of, if available. This rule has not been followed in this case," he added.

A Bench of CJI Dattu, TS Thakur and Justice Dave had dismissed the curative petition on 21 July.

"Submissions made about the curative petition do not appeal to me as they are irrelevant and there is no substance in them. In these circumstances, the writ petition is dismissed," Justice Dave said.

With their differing stands on Memon's plea, Justices Dave and Joseph passed a common order pronouncing their divergent judgements and requesting the CJI to constitute an appropriate Bench to hear the plea on 29 July.

"In view of the disagreement between us, the registry is directed to place the papers before Hon'ble The Chief Justice of India, preferably today, so that an appropriate Bench could be constituted and the matter can be heard on merits as soon as possible, preferably tomorrow i.e. on 29.07.2015," their common order said. 

Memon, who will turn 53 on Thursday -- the day scheduled for his execution, had also filed a mercy plea with Maharashtra Governor on the day his curative petition was rejected.

The TADA court in Mumbai had sentenced Memon to death for his involvement in the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai. He was found guilty of arranging finances for carrying out the 13 serial explosions across the city on 12 March, 1993, in which 257 people were killed and over 700 injured.

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