Supreme Court judge Justice U U Lalit on Wednesday recused himself from hearing death row convict Yakub Abdul Razak Memon's plea seeking review of the apex court's order upholding his conviction and capital punishment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
As soon as the case was taken up by a three-judge bench headed by Justice A R Dave, Justice Lalit said that he had appeared for some other person in the blasts case and recused himself from hearing Memon's plea. The apex court had earlier stayed the execution of Memon, a key conspirator along with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, after he filed review petiton.
It had on March 21, 2013, upheld the death sentence of Memon.
The apex court had commuted the death penalty awarded by a special TADA court to 10 others, who had parked explosives—laden vehicles at various places in Mumbai, to life term by distinguishing their roles from that of Memon. Dealing with the case of Memon, a chartered accountant by profession and brother of proclaimed offender Tiger Memon, the court had said he was the "driving force" and a "mastermind" behind the blasts that had rocked 12 crowded areas in Mumbai leaving 257 dead and over 700 injured.
