File photo of 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Memon.
The Supreme Court has dismissed 1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict Yakub Memon's petition to commute his death sentence to a life term.
The court had confirmed Memon's death sentence pronounced by a trial court two years ago, but he had then filed a review petition, which was rejected today. Last year, President Pranab Mukherjee had also rejected his mercy plea.
Memon's case was taken up in open court, following a court order last year on review petitions in death sentence cases.
In his petition, Memon had stated that he had been in jail for more than 20 years, longer than the 14-year jail term awarded in cases of life imprisonment.
Memon can still file a curative petition - his last legal resort - against today's order.
Memon, a chartered accountant and brother of fugitive terror mastermind Tiger Memon, was sentenced to death by an anti-terror court in 2007 after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy and for arranging finances and managing its disbursement through the co-accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case.
Upholding that verdict, the Supreme Court, in March, 2013, had said, "It is not a hyperbole to state that he was one of the driving spirits behind the plan."
Memon was arrested from Kathmandu airport in 1994. He was later described by the trial court as the mastermind who played a key role in the conspiracy, thus "warranting death penalty".
Over 250 people died and 700 were injured in multiple blasts in Mumbai on March 12.
The CBI, which probed the blasts, alleged that the blasts were planned by Dawood Ibrahim and others, including Memon's brother Tiger Memon, who is believed to be hiding in Pakistan.