Lawyers petition CJI seeking stay of Memon's execution

Senior lawyers, including Indira Jaising and Prashant Bhushan, late Wednesday evening petitioned Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu for stay of 1993 Mumbai blast convict Yaqub Memon's execution for 14 days, putting forward three points in their plea.

Dattu is going through the petition and has not taken a decision yet, said sources.

The lawyers approached the CJI after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Memon's mercy plea. The other lawyers include Nitya Ramakrishnan, Yug Chaudhary, Vrinda Grover, who are present outside the CJI's residence.

Memon, convicted for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, is set to be hanged at 7 a.m. on Thursday in Nagpur jail with the rejection of his mercy plea.

The lawyers have raised three points in their petition to the CJI - with the first being how could the president decide a mercy petition in such short time? The petition was moved at 10 a.m. and by evening, the president had referred it to the home ministry and a short while later, rejected it, they said.

Secondly, they raised the issue of changed circumstances raised in the mercy petition in which Memon had said he is suffering from schizophrenia for the past many years. The third point they raised was after the Maharashtra governor and President Mukherjee rejected the mercy plea, Memon should have been given 14 days time.

Memon, 53, filed a fresh mercy petition before President Mukherjee to escape the gallows. In the evening, President Mukherjee held discussions over the mercy plea with union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who advised him to reject the plea.