Yakub has not made his will so far: Lawyer

Yakub probably thought he would survive and would not be hanged which is why he did not prepare any will, says his lawyer

Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, whose last-ditch effort to escape the noose at the Central Prison here on his 53rd birthday tomorrow was rejected by the Supreme Court, has not prepared any will so far, the convict's lawyer Anil Gedam said here today.

"Yakub was hopeful of some kind of relief from the Supreme Court and also from his mercy petition with the President. He probably thought he would survive and will not be hanged which is why he did not prepare any will," Gedam told PTI.

The lone death row convict in the 1993 blasts, who has exhausted all his possible legal remedies, had pinned hopes on his plea challenging the death warrant by the Maharashtra government on the ground that it was issued even before his curative petition was heard by the apex court on July 21, Gedam said.

After his execution as per the TADA court verdict, Yakub's mortal remains are most likely to be claimed by his family tomorrow, Gedam said.

Quoting Chapter XI of the Jail Manual, he said the Jail Superintendent of Nagpur Central Prison has been vested with powers to decide with regard to the body of a death row convict.

After the inquest, post mortem will be conducted by a team of doctors including a forensic medicine expert from the Government Medical College, Nagpur, following which the Jail Superintendent can bury the body in the prison premises itself.

In case the family wants to take possession of the body, they should give an undertaking to the authorities that they will not make an issue and will not hold any demonstration with the body and that there will be a quiet burial. But the Maharashtra government has to take a final call and can decide the place for his last rites, Gedam said.

Also, this purely depends on the law and order situation in the city and elsewhere in Maharashtra, the lawyer added.

Meanwhile, Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) Meera Borwankar is camping in Nagpur and was in the Central Prison to oversee the arrangements ahead of Yakub's hanging.