CBI seeks death penalty for Memon brothers

MUMBAI: The CBI on Friday sought death penalty for three brothers of absconding prime accused Tiger Memon found guilty of involvement in the 1993 serial bomb blasts here and asked for life imprisonment for his sister-in- law, even as they asked the TADA court to show leniency.

In his submission to judge PD Kode, CBI counsel CS Sharma asked for capital punishment for Tiger Memon’s brothers Yakub, Essa and Yusuf who have been found guilty of conspiracy and other charges.

Mr Sharma said this was the rarest of rare cases as the explosions had shattered Mumbai’s lifeline and killed 257 people in the span of a few hours. The court should consider the brutal force used by the brothers to cause the chain of blasts, he said.

He cited Supreme Court judgements in cases of multiple murders to drive home his point that capital punishment should be awarded to the three brothers. Mr Sharma said Tiger Memon’s sister-in-law Rubina could be given life imprisonment as she is a woman and the CBI was not pressing for capital punishment for her.

Mr Kode heard the CBI and convicted Memon family members on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to them.
Defence lawyer Harshad Ponda said Yakub was not deeply involved in the conspiracy and the court may consider leniency in awarding punishment to him.

Yakub was not directly involved in the blasts, which were planned by Tiger Memon and other absconding accused. The 12 years already spent by Yakub in prison may be considered as “undergone period of sentence” and he may be released, Mr Ponda urged.

Citing a Supreme Court judgement in the Nalini versus CBI case related to the assassination of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Mr Ponda said even the apex court had suggested the categorisation of the accused and awarding of sentence based on the magnitude of their roles in a conspiracy.

In this case too, the court should consider who were deeply involved and who were not, and then award the sentences, he argued.

About Essa, Mr Ponda said he was suffering from a brain tumor and had spent 12 years in prison after his arrest in August 1994. Essa would have to undergo medical treatment and he should be set free after treating the time spent by him in jail as “undergone period of sentence”, Mr Ponda said.

Yusuf had been treated for schizophrenia for several years and had spent five years in jail before being given bail for treatment, Mr Ponda said. He urged the court to treat five-year period in jail as the “undergone” period of sentence and release Yusuf.

In the case of Rubina, Mr Ponda said she had two children to look after. Besides, she was not aware that a car and a flat registered in her name were used by those involved in the bomb blasts.

He said Rubina had spent 32 months in prison and this may be considered while awarding sentence to her. On the quantum of punishment, he left it to the court's discretion and said the minimum term prescribed the TADA act was five years.

The four members of the Memon family were found guilty of various charges, including conspiracy to carry out the chain of explosions that rocked Mumbai in 1993.