Yakub Memon's plea: How the late-night action unfolded

NEW DELHI: Yakub Memon, Mumbai blasts convict, will be hanged shortly with the Supreme Court dismissing his last-minute attempt to escape the gallows by rejecting his plea for a stay on the death warrant.

Here's how the unprecedented late-night hearing unfolded

* Hours after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected Yakub Memon's mercy plea, top lawyers gathered at the residence of Chief Justice of India

* Top lawyers, including Yakub Memon's counsel, urged CJI for an urgent hearing ahead of his Thursday morning hanging.

* CJI agreed to hear the last-minute plea and formed a three-member bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra

* The hearing, which was originally scheduled to start at 2am, finally got under way at 3.20am

* The hearing continued for nearly an hour and thirty minutes

* Defence lawyer sought 14-day reprieve for Yakub, stating that it was the first mercy plea by him. The previous plea was filed by his brother the lawyer said.

* Defence lawyer also cited Maharashtra prison manual to say that Yakub should get at least 7 days after rejection of his mercy petition.

* AG strongly opposed defence arguments and accused the defence of abusing the system.

* After hearing both sides, Justice Dipak Misra dictated his judgment for quite some time.

* Finally, at around 5am the three-judge bench pronounced its verdict rejecting Yakub Memon's last-minute mercy plea.