New Delhi, July 30
Dismissing the argument that 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon's
execution should have been stalled by 14 days after the rejection of his
mercy plea, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi on Thursday said had that
happened, it would have been against the "spirit of the law".
In
an interview to Karan Thapar on India Today television channel, Rohatgi,
who contested Memon's plea, said that submitting a mercy petition on
the eve of the execution was wrong and Memon should have done it in
April 2014 when his mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab
Mukherjee.
"The first petition for presidential clemency was on
April 11, 2014. From that day, if you calculate, it's more than 14
months. When your mercy petition was rejected in April 2014, what was
stopping the prisoner from challenging the rejection?" Rohatgi asked.
"The
law recognises that successive petitions can be filed. If you have a
cut-off date of July 30 and you move a petition on the morning of July
30 and say that another 14 days must be given after the rejection of the
petition and then on the 13th day, you could again make a petition and
say that now it must be considered by the governor or president. That is
not the spirit of the law."
Rohatgi said there had to be "some finality" in the case.
"You
must understand that at some point of time, some finality has to come.
If, 22 years is not good enough for finality, then I don't know when you
will have finality," he said, adding that Memon knew the date of his
execution three months in advance.
Asked whether the court should
have taken a lenient view of the petition as it was filed by Memon
himself and not his brother as was the case earlier, Rohatgi said: "The
brother moved the petition on behalf of Yakub, and the very next day,
Yakub wrote a letter to the superintendent of the jail pointing out that
his brother had moved a petition for clemency to the president and
notice must be taken thereof. So, it was as good as his (Yakub) own
petition."
"There is no difference between a petition moved by the brother and endorsed by Yakub or one moved by him," he added.
Rohatgi further argued that the families of the 257 people who died in the Mumbai bomb blasts were waiting for justice too.
Taking
on those who criticised President Mukherjee for rejected the mercy
petition in just seven hours, Rohatgi said: "If somebody decides things
promptly, you accuse him of unholy haste. If things are procrastinated,
you accuse the person of long delays."
Furthermore, Rohatgi said
the president was not an "appellate authority" and took the decision
after discussion with the home ministry.
"There is no reason to
doubt the president. The Supreme Court also disposes of murder appeals
in much lesser time. So, don't expect the president to become an
appellate judge over the Supreme Court. It is an entire different
jurisdiction," he said.
Rohatgi also praised the apex court for being "extremely indulgent".
"The
Supreme Court rose to the occasiona a full hearing was given and there
has been a complete access to justice. If you feel this was also rushed,
then I think it should take 30 or 40 years for death sentences to be
given," he said.
