Commenting on 1993 Mumbai terror blast convict Yakub Memon's execution, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday said that implementing capital punishment in 'peace-loving' India may not be right.
"Debate over whether or not the capital punishment should be implemented is going on in the whole world and also in our nation. Personally I feel that in a peace-loving place like India, where we use names of people like Gandhiji, punishment like this may not be right," Tariq Anwar told ANI.
"I think in the future we will reach to a conclusion. Whatever happened with Yakub, our court took the decision. We believe in the court. We don't doubt that Yakub was guilty. He was guilty and he needed to be punished, but the rest of the nation was suggesting that he shouldn't be hanged and given some other punishment," he added.
"Maybe the Supreme Court didn't accept the suggestion. Now, that he is hanged, we need to decide in the future whether or not the capital punishment should exist," said Anwar, adding "The way the whole world is debating on the capital punishment, I think we will soon reach to a conclusion."
Memon's second mercy plea before President Pranab Mukherjee was rejected late last night.
In an unprecedented move, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court presided over a fresh hearing of the case throughout the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday before dismissing the final appeal for mercy by Yakub, the only person to be sentenced to death for the series of bombings in Mumbai.
While Yakub Memon's lawyer Anand Grover had sought a reprieve of 14 days to challenge rejection of mercy plea by the President, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi maintained that if mercy petitions are filed over and over again, death warrants will never be executed.
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The apex court had on Wednesday also dismissed the curative petition of Yakub, saying proper procedure was followed in disposing of Yakub's curative petition.
Memon was convicted for being the "driving spirit" behind the blasts that killed at least 257 people at separate landmarks in the financial capital, including the Bombay Stock Exchange and two crowded markets.
