New Delhi 29 July 2015

The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) has expressed dismay, disdain and displeasure at the way President of India has referred the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yaqub Memon’s latest fresh mercy petition to commute his death penalty to life sentence to the Ministry of Home Affairs, (MHA).

SDPI national president A. Sayeed in a statement said the President should not have returned Yaqub’s petition to MHA but asserted his supremacy in such a sensitive case involving the issue of life and death and granted reprieve to him. His decision would have been logical as he could have relied his decision on the pleas of about 286 political leaders, jurists and activists who petitioned him on Wednesday in a last ditch effort to spare the noose to Yaqub.

Sayeed said that terrorists must be punished without showing any mercy. However, here this is a very different case as mentioned by the signatories of petition to the President. What reasons quoted by signatories are eye opener to the Government, police, Judiciary and investigative agencies? The signatories have claimed that there were “substantive and fresh grounds” that could be considered on merits.

He said that if Yaqub will be executed then no body will come to surrender after crime in on words of RAW or CBI. Grant of mercy in this case will send out a message that while this country will not tolerate acts of terrorism, as a nation we are committed to equal application of the power of mercy and values of forgiveness, and justice. Blood letting and human sacrifice will not make this country a safer place; it will, however, degrade us all.

Sayeed pointed out that legal luminaries after carefully studying the judgment have reportedly said the court it appears the evidence on which Memon was found guilty is very weak. This evidence is retracted confession of the co-accused and alleged recoveries. Everyone knows how retracted confessions are obtained by the police in the country which is by torture. The torture is such a terrible thing that one will confess to anything under torture. Regarding recoveries, he said anyone having knowledge of working of police knows that such alleged recoveries are often planted.