Special TADA Court Judge PD Kode who conducted the trial in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court's rejection of his curative petition, which will send prime accused Yakub Memon to the gallows in just over a week.
Nikam said: “This is a historic verdict in many respects. The SC, in its verdict, has distinguished the role between the conspirators and the planters and that they deserve bigger punishment.”
The criminal lawyer said that “the death penalty is an effective remedy under the law and in this case it would act as a deterrent. Investigations proved that (Yakub) Memon had played a role and the courts have accepted it”.
A column by Saurav Datta published in the Quint earlier today argued that Nikam regularly played to the media, misrepresenting the facts of his cases, has lied during trial and otherwise behaved in a manner unbefitting an advocate, unfairly prejudicing the case against the defendants he faces.
Retired Special Judge Kode, who sentenced Memon and 10 others to death in the case, termed the Supreme Court’s rejection of Memon’s curative plea on Tuesday as “a solace after 22 years and a victory for those who believe in the rule of the law”.
“The Supreme Court judgment shows that indulging in criminal activities is not a profitable business. As far as India is concerned, we don’t tolerate the people who play with the valuable fundamental rights of the citizens enshrined in the Constitution,” Kode told media persons shortly after the apex court verdict.
As per indications, the Maharashtra government has cleared Memon’s execution on July 30 at the Nagpur Central Jail, where he is at present lodged.
Then Special Judge Kode had awarded the death penalty to Memon on July 27, 2007 - and Memon had screamed like a wild animal with anger in his eyes, stunning the packed courtroom.
A chartered accountant, Memon, 53, handled the finances for his brother, Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon in Mumbai.
He has been accused of funding the training of 15 youth who were sent to Pakistan for arms and ammunition handling, and funding the escape of his family members after the bomb blasts.
The entire family, including Yakub Memon, living in and around Mahim area of south Mumbai had quietly fled Mumbai shortly before the blasts.
Kode said the March 12, 1993, terror attack was the biggest in Indian history, targeting 13 locations simultaneously and blowing them up within a couple of hours, killing 257, injuring 712 and damaging properties worth crores of rupees.
“It had shocked the common citizens. Terror was created in the minds of the public and the people felt uncertain about their lives in this country, whether they would be secure, whether they would ever return home alive from work,” Kode said.
Though it was “a very huge operation, involving large quantities of RDX first time in India, big fundings, etc.”, Kode said certain things the perpetrators intended - like crippling the Bombay Stock Exchange or Air India - failed to materialize in the country’s commercial capital.
He lauded the then Joint Police Commissioner MN Singh and then DCP Rakesh Maria (now, Mumbai police commissioner) who worked very hard and investigated the serial blasts within the stipulated period.
Later, as some accused had fled the country, central agencies entered the probe, and more accused were added in the case.
“The entire case proceeded without any problems and the prosecution could prove the police charges against the accused,” Kode said.
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Murder, or culpable homicide, a soldier killing another in war, negligent killing by a doctor, a cop shooting a robber or in self-defence, or execution under the law are all killing, albeit with different legal status.
Anyway, I will leave it to someone more qualified than me on the interaction between law and language to take this up :)
But at the end of the day the death penalty is state-sanctioned intentional killing of a human being and I think it's worth describing it as such lest we become blase about what is actually happening, irrespective of which side of the debate you stand.
Are you aiming at Nikam, or the SC/judge who pronounced the sentence, or the sentencing itself?
The military is arguably best at dressing up killing in less descriptive words.
Take the euphemisms 'friendly fire' or 'blue on blue', which the military has coined in order to have to avoid embarrassingly saying: one of our soldiers killed another one of our soldiers by accident, even if that is exactly what happened.
Or 'collateral damage', which should rightfully be described as, we accidentally killed civilians.
Just like that, 'execution', which is also something you can do to a document, is a euphemism for judicially-sanctioned killing by the state or shortform for 'hang someone by the neck until they are dead either by suffocation or by their neck breaking by the force of impact'.
Calling a spade a spade may be unconventional, but if we think using something like kill in the context of executions is incorrect, then we have succumbed to deliberate campaigns to redefine language to support certain political ends.
And if you're uncomfortable with using the word 'kill' in this context, maybe you should be uncomfortable with what actually happens in executions too.
I am, but I understand that such punishment is awarded only to those who have demonstrated total disregard to others' right to live.
The issue of whether or not the State should be allowed to kill or more euphemistically to "execute" human beings for criminal offences when they no longer constitute a threat to society or to others is a hotly contested political, ethical, moral and even religious issue for some.
Hinduism seems not to have the same distaste for the deliberate taking of human life, whereas the Bible prohibits it.
But even apart from religion, many people find it deeply wrong that the State should deliberately end a human life even of a person who has taken other lives. Life imprisonment would keep such persons away from society if they continue to constitute a threat.
KnowTheTruth, you don't appear to have reflected on the moral dilemmas of the death penalty, therefore you see this as a mere discussion on grammar, whereas the description of the death penalty as judicially sanctioned State killing is a political act, loaded with political opposition to the death penalty, and which is to borrow your language therefore "contextually, politically, technically and legally" correct usage in the context of this article and its headline.
1. "Life imprisonment would keep such persons away from society"....does it have the same degree of deterrant effect?
2.I wasn't reflecting on the moral grounds for death penalty as this is being widely discussed/debated in several forums.
Moreover, people are not asking to commute Memon's death sentence because it is inherently immoral, but because they feel he doesn't deserve it.
Hindu mythology is full of instances of devtas and devis slaying the evil rakshasas.
Of course, that has no bearing on the legal provisions of modern day's IPC.
Killing is motive-neutral.
Some neutral uses of killing -
killed in a car crash
killed by a tiger in the Delhi zoo
killed in the tsunami
killed in a terrorist bombing
killed by hanging as ordered by a Judge
What is the source for the above fact - if it is Ujjwal Nikam then this might be just like the Kasab biryani lie told by Nikam.
Kasab had complained he was being drugged in jail during his trial and Nikam fabricated the biryani story to cover up Kasab's complaint.
Also, according to this news report apparently at one point Ujjwal Nikam told the Court that there was no legal provision for allowing bail to a convicted person.
Now I am not a criminal law expert, so how are Salman Khan & Lalu Prasad Yadav free on bail after conviction?
The truth about the Mumbai serial blasts is not out.
The recent Jethmalani revelations would impact Yakub Memom's case and suddenly our Government wants him dead as soon as possible.
A man was sentenced in 2007 for the crime he committed in 1993. After 2007, its been 7+ years of review petitions and mercy applications. Yet we say this to be a "sudden rush"?
All the questions that are being asked today (about appropriateness of the death sentence to YM) were not asked in 2007, or in the last 7 years. Why are so many questions cropping up just 10 days before the execution?
Especially for the retired Judge Kode, he has no business commenting to the media, adding his own conclusions, opinions and alleged facts now - His role was over after he signed his judgment which speaks for itself.
Kode's extra-judicial comments now to the media on the trial & the bomb blasts are unethical and unprofessional.
While i do agree that people like Kode or Nikam should not be coming out in media, I feel it is necessary to defend the judgement which is being debated/criticised in media of which they have been a part of. When people question the sentence- there is doubt is people's minds about the inefficacy of our judicial system (which most people consider dud anyway). And people who question the sentence come from different backgrounds, often with vested interests.
In such scenario it definitely helps when people like Kode/Nikam come out and explain that the judicial sentence has not come out of somebody's fancy, but is a product of detailed examination of witness/evidences over a trial involving daily hearings, for 15+ years.
Why are we not asking whether RAW official Raman should have written this letter? What efforts did he make while he was alive? He was in a dilemma doesn't mean all the people running this case are either idiots or frauds.
Raman (in his letter) has clearly explained that YM was arrested with the help of Nepal police, then why is everybody buying into YM's hypothesis of surrender, and betrayal by RAW?
He also quotes that YM's involvement in the conspiracy is beyond doubt. Then why don't we just leave the sentencing to the judge?
The sentencing happened in 2007- why is everybody questioning it now? There are mixed set of questions - one that question the sentence, second that doubts the proceedings itself.
www.siasat.com/news/why-its-wrong-hang-yakub-memon-797281/
Kasab was being drugged in jail, news reports and accounts of persons who saw him or met him confirm that. Kasab complained in Court to the Judge that his food in jail was being drugged. This "outburst" of Kasab in Court was misrepresented by Nikam outside Court as Kasab crying in Court because he was not being served biryani.
Nikam admitted his lie.
Any right thinking person would condemn Nikam for this lie which adversely affected an incarcerated person who was ultimately killed by the State.
And you KnowTheTruth defend Nikam and that too so flippantly. You only expose yourself.
Don't forget about 26/11 matyrs.
He was not are "Guest".
Speaking the truth and criticizing Nikam for a morally reprehensible act does not mean that I have forgotten the victims of what happened on 26/11.
"He was not are "Guest" - deserves no reply since the Indian State never served him biryani but instead unlawfully drugged him in jail during his trial thereby taking away his right to defend himself in court.
The truth about 26/11 is not out. We should be clamoring to try and hang David Headley instead who was apparently a CIA agent.
Forgive my ignorance, I just didn't consider Nikam's lie to be a game changer in the verdict. That Kasab was guilty of the crime without doubt, is something even you would not disagree with.
I fail to understand why he was drugged. He was caught red handed- alive and firing.
26/11 was definitely not an ISI plot alone. The ISI can do nothing like this without the involvement of the CIA. David Headley's involvement establishes CIA involvement. Possibly Mossad too. It is fair to assume that Indian State actors from the police and intelligence agencies were also involved. This has in fact been stated by senior police and intelligence officials. Recall also the whole Karkare saga.
Kasab was at the most a pawn, put on a suicide mission. He was not the mastermind or one of the enablers.
False flag terrorist attacks happen and the endgame serves many purposes and interests. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan stand destroyed as a result of their "allies". If India allows vested interests to continue to engender conflict, chaos and violence in its neighborhood and inside the country, we will end up living in a South Asian version of the Middle East in a very few years.
We will fight wars we do not need, we are already buying more weapons than we can afford and are sustaining the defence industrial complexes of the US, Israel, Russia, etc.
So Kasab a small time player captured on camera is tried and the official story is the ISI version. When Kasab realises he will get executed, it becomes necessary to drug him so as to control him and keep him quiet through the trial until he can be killed.
THE accused has to be almost lifted by policemen to enter the court; the senior defence lawyer is sacked and an obviously unfit junior appointed in his place. A year after Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the 26/ 11 attack on Mumbai, was arrested, his trial has gone horribly wrong. No longer can we claim proudly that we gave even a terrorist whom the world saw committing his awful crime, a fair trial.
When Kasab is finally convicted, we won't have the satisfaction of looking back at legal proceedings wherein the overwhelming evidence against him was tested at every step.
It was his insistence on testing the evidence that cost Abbas Kazmi his job and Kasab an able defence lawyer.
Even in routine trials, defence lawyers refuse to accept affidavits presented by the prosecution as evidence.
Cross- examination of witnesses is the defence's right. Besides, there is an established procedure that's followed in all criminal trials — the prosecution files an application requesting the court to take its evidence on record, the defence files its reply, and then the judge gives a ruling.
This procedure was flouted by the prosecution. When Kazmi insisted that it be followed, he was sacked. In other words, Kasab's defence lawyer was sacked for being a thorough professional.
Would it have been better for Kazmi to have treated this trial as a paid holiday? The media went to town calculating his monthly income when his fees were announced — Rs 2,500 per hearing. Nobody bothered to find out how much the prosecution was being paid. Nor to inquire exactly how much time had been given to Kazmi to study the 14,000- page chargesheet.
The first time he requested half a day's adjournment to prepare for an important witness, he was turned down.
Professionalism
Being a professional in this particular case was never easy for Abbas Kazmi. Early on, he declared that he would not admit the documents presented by the prosecution. Any defence lawyer would have done the same, but Kazmi had a special reason for doing so: in the Afzal Guru case, the Supreme Court had adversely commented on the defence for having admitted the prosecution's documents. Immediately, he was accused of wanting to delay the trial by the high- profile prosecutor on national television. In court, the judge also expressed his displeasure.
Had Kazmi initially admitted all documents, and now, declined cross*xamination of witnesses described as formal by the prosecution, the trial might well have been complete by 26/ 11, the promise made by the prosecution time and again. Only then it wouldn't have been a trial, but a farce that would have made us a laughing stock in the world. But was cross- examination necessary, given the overwhelming evidence against Kasab? That's the question Kazmi has been asked again and again. His answer has always been grounded in the Constitution that lays down the basis of our criminal law — every accused is presumed to be innocent till proven guilty. In this case, even after Kasab's admission of guilt in court, the prosecution insisted, as a measure of abundant caution, that all the evidence be taken on record and the trial go on.
So why the sudden rush? Whence the need to flout procedure? Perhaps the answer lies in the wealth of detail emerging from the cross- examination: the guns that jammed; the walkie- talkies with dead batteries; the Quick Response Teams that froze; the calls for reinforcements that went unanswered. Then there are the more serious questions that have arisen — why was the identity of Abu Jindal, the man described by Kasab as their only Indian trainer in Pakistan, never traced? How did the man whose SIM card was used by the terrorists, have an ID card issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development? Who knows what more would have come to light had the remaining 340 witnesses taken the stand? These 340 were described by the prosecution as " formal'' witnesses. They included survivors, doctors who performed autopsies, and panchas . As Kazmi pointed out in his reply, the evidence contained in their affidavits could not be described as " ancillary'', but went to the " heart of the matter''. He had to cross- examine them.
Kasab's trial was the next best thing to a full- fledged inquiry into the 26/ 11 terrorist attack, an inquiry the government is not going to conduct.
The Ram Pradhan Committee report is unlikely to be tabled; even if it is, its findings cannot be entirely relied upon since it refused to meet persons such as Vinita Kamte, wife of Additional CP Ashok Kamte. Having gone to great lengths to unearth the circumstances surrounding her husband's killing outside Cama Hospital, she wanted to raise her doubts with the Committee. The Committee has praised the handling of the crisis by Joint CP Rakesh Maria in the Control Room. Vinita Kamte's findings have left Maria red- faced.
Replacement
Even ATS chief Hemant Karkare's wife has often complained that she doesn't know why her husband was left to die on the road outside Cama " like a dog''. The facts that have emerged from Kazmi's cross- examination in this context are significant: despite frequent calls for reinforcements from and around Cama Hospital, none arrived.
In the days since Kazmi's sacking, his successor, who was his assistant, has already cut a sorry figure in court. The assistant's assistant has openly disagreed with his decision not to cross- examine witnesses. Outside court, he has demeaned his office by declaring gleefully that now that he will get Kazmi's fee, he need not travel by train anymore. Is this what we want to show the world? It is ironic that when Kasab's first lawyer was disqualified before the trial started, this same man was her assistant. Yet, the judge ignored him and thought it necessary to look for a senior defence counsel. He handpicked Kazmi, who had appeared for some of the accused in the Mumbai 1993 bomb blasts trial.
Undertrial
Kazmi has had to pay a heavy price for accepting the brief. His trusteeship of one of Mumbai's oldest clubs was revoked the day he was appointed. In court, he has been mocked at by the prosecution; outside, the media has criticised him simply for behaving as a professional, and also chosen not to report his cross- examination. Perhaps worst of all, he has failed to establish a relationship with his client, having had to interact with him only in the full glare of everyone in court.
Indeed, after Kasab's admission of guilt in court, Kazmi offered to resign, for Kasab had not consulted him before deciding on such a drastic step. However, he has put Kasab's requests to the court: a newspaper, some ittar to offset the unbearable stink in his bullet- proof cell … Undertrials are supposed to get all this, but then Kasab is no ordinary undertrial.
It's because Kazmi is no longer there that Kasab's current physical state must alarm everyone. The man whose cocky smile, so out of place in his own trial, made the judge and his own lawyer reprimand him time and again; who once rushed to his feet to say that a witness was lying; who wondered, after noticing the decorated wrists of everyone in court if anyone would tie him a rakhi ; now sits with his chin sunk in his chest, unable to keep his eyes open, deaf to the judge's repeated reprimands. He has complained repeatedly that his food is being drugged; prison doctors have rejected his claim. Any defence lawyer would have asked for an independent team of doctors to examine his client. Who will do that now that Kazmi has been sacked?"
www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/SACKING-KASAB-S-LAWYER-WRONG-11680.asp#.VbPQ6rOqqko
Shall we care to bother about the plight of the families of 257 killed in the blast, and the few hundreds maimed and suffering? How did the families whose main bread earner got killed in the blast, survive ? What about all the children orphaned?
Indian Express
'Sanjay Dutt did more than just keep a gun for self-protection in 1993'
Gautam S Mengle Posted online: Sat Mar 23 2013, 03:31 hrs
Mumbai : The masterminds of the 1993 bomb blasts in Bombay had a twin agenda. One was to attack the city through a series of explosions, and the other was to arm members of their community well enough to hold their own in communal clashes the blasts were expected to trigger.
For this, assault rifles, pistols and hand grenades were brought from Pakistan and several young men were also taken to Pakistan and given arms training, police officers linked to the investigation recalled after this week’s Supreme Court verdict in the 20-year-old case.
The arms landed at two places in Raigad district and one in Gujarat. The Gujarat consignment was hidden in the cavity of a vehicle and brought to Mumbai by road, driven by Abu Salem, who went on to become a prominent gangster.
Salem and his accomplices needed a quiet place to open the welded cavity and remove the arsenal. The office of Magnum Productions, owned by Hanif Kadawala and Sameer Hingora, on Linking Road in Bandra, was chosen. Dawood Ibrahim’s brother Anees called Hingora and Kadawala and told them to allow Salem to use their compound.
The partners, however, were involved in a dispute with their landlord and did not want to risk catching his attention and suggested using actor Sanjay Dutt’s house instead.
Dutt was contacted and he agreed. Hingora went with Salem after the latter feared he would not be allowed inside by the guards, and the vehicle was taken to Dutt’s garage.
“The Mumbai Police had provided some guards for Sunil and Sanjay Dutt in light of the 1992-93 riots, and the garage was in direct line of sight from where they were stationed. Dutt asked them to move over to another gate, after which the cavity in the vehicle was opened and the arsenal extracted,” said one officer.
“Dutt kept some of it, including three to four hand grenades and the rest was taken away by Salem. Dutt provided the tools for the task as well as duffel bags for loading the weapons,” he added.
Dutt later called Anees and told him he was not comfortable keeping grenades at home as he felt they were unsafe. Mansoor Ahmed, who worked with Salem, went to Dutt’s house and took the grenades away.
Police got to know of Dutt’s involvement after they picked up Hingora and Kadawala. The actor was shooting in Mauritius at the time and the police decided to stay silent until he returned. However, one newspaper reported the development, causing Dutt to panic and call his friend Yusuf Nullwala and ask him to get rid of the weapons.
Nullwala took the guns to a foundry in Marine Lines and tried to destroy them. However, the barrel of the AK-56 rifle could not be destroyed and Nullwala took it to his house, from where it was recovered when police arrested him. Also, a 9 mm pistol could not be destroyed and Nullwala returned it to Dutt. It was recovered from his house when police arrested him.
Dutt later claimed he had retained only one gun for self protection, a claim investigating officers have scoffed at. “It would still be understandable, if not permissible, if Dutt had called up Anees and asked for a 9 mm for personal safety. However, we have evidence of the telephone calls between Dutt and Anees, where the actor asked Anees to take the grenades away, and we had submitted this in court as well,” said another officer.
“While the world thinks there is only an Arms Act case against Dutt, what isn’t widely known is that he had been charged for aiding and abetting the entire crime, with evidence to back the charge up,” he said.
The TADA court, however, acquitted him of the terror charges and this was upheld by the Supreme Court too.
archive.indianexpress.com/story-print/1092232/
www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/i-attended-dawoods-party-before-blast-sanjay-dutt/article3771573.ece
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is there a provision to file something like a PIL to question cbi as to why they did so and demand a re-trial?
Senior advocate Jaspal Singh, arguing for Yakub before a bench of Justices P S Sathasivam and B S Chauhan, said the evidence against Dutt included a confessional statement, which was retracted, and recovery of arms and ammunition.
"The evidence against Yakub is identical. There are confessional statements which have been retracted. But even though the standard of evidence against Dutt and the other accused was same, the CBI chose not to file appeal against his acquittal from Tada charges," Singh said."
From timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/93-blasts-convict-questions-CBI-leniency-to-Sanjay-Dutt/articleshow/10574132.cms
In fact though, the evidence against Sanjay Dutt was stronger than that against Yakub Memon.
1. the law enforcement and investigation agencies are lenient towards Sanju baba for reasons unknown. Why is the public so lenient towards him? Why does the public watch his films and make him a millionaire and superstar despite knowing his background?
2.If Memon strongly believes that Sanjay's role in the blasts was larger than what is apparent, why does he not open his mouth and provide the details?
3.Based on the evidence presented, the judges found that Memon was among the key conspirators, planners and mastermind behind the attacks and had full knowledge of the conspiracy. Can the same be said (or proved) about Sanjubaba? Note that even the guys who actually planted the bombed were relieved of death sentence as they were mere pawns.
Just because Memon's defense lawyer states that evidence was stronger against Sanju baba doesnt make it so. Or does it?
"Yakub Memon will turn 53 on 30 July. He is also likely to be hanged on the same day at 7 am in Nagpur Central Jail, after spending 20 years in jail."
www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/nikam-and-his-peculiar-art-of-winning-high-profile-cases-115050900689_1.html
www.ns2.caravanmagazineindia.com/reportage/avenger
www.caravanmagazine.in/vantage/mentor-who-taught-ujjwal-nikam-how-modulate-evidence
Please read these interesting US embassy cables on the matter.
search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09MUMBAI304_a.html
search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09MUMBAI169_a.html
search.wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/09MUMBAI302_a.html
www.firstpost.com/india/gross-travesty-of-justice-in-case-of-yakub-memon-justice-markandey-katju-2364254.html
From deceased RAW official who was in the know:
www.firstpost.com/india/plea-leniency-grave-deceased-raw-officials-op-ed-makes-case-yakub-memon-2360716.html
The Yakub Memon story: The man who helped India expose Pakistan's role in 1993 Bombay blasts
www.scroll.in/article/744801/the-yakub-memon-story-the-man-who-helped-india-expose-pakistans-role-in-1993-bombay-blasts
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