A recent photo of Yakub Memon
Senior CPIM leader Prakash Karat today said President Pranab Mukherjee should exercise his "discretionary power" to stop the execution of Yakub Memon, convicted for the 1993 blasts in Mumbai which killed 257 people.
Mr Karat had earlier signed a mercy petition submitted to the President by a group of eminent citizens.
When asked what should President Mukherjee do if the Union Home Ministry "advised" him not to grant mercy to Memon, Mr Karat told NDTV, "There have precedents and we believe the Constitution allows him to use discretionary power. Gopal Gandhi has written just this morning how President Venkatraman in one instance stopped the execution at the last minute. President Kalam too had not taken a decision on death penalty as he opposed them."
Memon should hang tomorrow as scheduled, the government is likely to advise President Pranab Mukherjee. The President is likely, said sources, to reject tonight a new mercy plea filed by Memon, which means he will be executed in Nagpur early tomorrow morning.
Mr Karat's comrade and CPI Member of Parliament D Raja too wants the President to put a pause to the execution.
He told NDTV that he has moved a private member's bill asking capital punishment to be abolished from India.
"This Friday, we are supposed to take it up and I would urge the House to advice the government that until Parliament decides on death penalty, there should be a moratorium on all executions," said Mr Raja.
Memon was first convicted in 2007 by a Mumbai court for planning the attack in which 257 people were killed in serial explosions in the city. The Supreme Court upheld that verdict in 2013.
Memon said in the Supreme Court this week that an order to hang him was passed while he still had legal recourse available. Two judges differed on that yesterday, and the case was referred to a three-judge bench today, which ruled against Memon.
Memon was the only one of 11 people convicted for the 1993 attacks to have his death sentence upheld on appeal. He was found guilty of financing and organising the training in Pakistan of those who executed the attack.