Not used to be woken up in the dead of the night, it was an unusual Thursday morning for Justice Dipak Misra and two other judges — Justices Prafulla C Pant and Amitava Roy — of the Supreme Court. Just an hour past midnight, their telephones rang. It was a call from the Chief Justice residence to know if they will be available for a sitting.
A petition filed by Yakub Memon, the Mumbai blasts convict, had to be heard and the CJI banked on the judges who disposed a similar petition about 12 hours ago. The three judges obliged and preparations began to open the Supreme Court gates at the dead of night — an unprecedented event in the history of the court.
About 3 am, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi walked in along with lawyers representing Memon. In another fifteen minutes, action began as judges took their seats in courtroom No. 4. What followed was a grueling battle of arguments from both sides — Rohatgi representing the Maharashtra Government and senior advocate Anand Grover for Memon. By 4.50 am, the fate of Memon was sealed forever. The order was soon out as TV cameras and journalists blared out from their mikes — Yakub Memon will hang. And so it was, a little after 6.30 am, Memon was hanged at Nagpur Central Jail.
The unexpected rush that gathered at the Supreme Court left the security officials manning the apex court in a tizzy. As protocol would have it, even the Deputy Commissioner of Police was present in the court overseeing the proceedings.There has hardly been an instance when Supreme Court was opened at night. When Nithari killer Surendra Koli’s execution had to be stayed, a late night hearing was arranged at the residence of the judge. The option was available to Justice Misra to hold sitting at his residence. But the judge wished otherwise and demanded Court No 4 to be opened, the same court where he sat in the morning and delivered verdict dismissing Yakub’s first petition.
While the court staff and office assistants of the judge were present to assist the court proceedings, one thing was not accounted for by the Supreme Court officials. the fans in the room, there was no air circulation. The judges ordered the gates to be opened and it remained so till the proceedings concluded.
The Bench noted in its Thursday order, “Even before the ink of previous judgment has dried, a new petition comes assailing the justifiability of the death warrant.” All it had to consider was a limited question --- whether 14-day breather should be allowed for Memon’s execution, considering that his mercy petition had just been rejected by the President.
Grover submitted that Memon is entitled to this time period under law as past two judgments of the Supreme Court have held so. During this time, he would meet his family and challenge rejection of his mercy petition. But Attorney General Rohatgi stood firm accusing Memon of abusing the system which has allowed him so many remedies. Just hours ago, he had advised the President of India that the mercy petition cannot stand after the apex court on Wednesday closed all legal options of the death-row prisoner. He argued the same in the court wondering what new ground had the fresh petition to claim. His arguments stood the ground and finally resulted in the court yet again slamming the door on Yakub Memon. By now, the dawn was setting in. It was 5 am and amid the hustle and bustle of this news, everything seemed to settle to what it was earlier in the day. “It is a tragic mistake,” said Grover, while AG curtly replied, “I have done my duty.”
The long night had ended and it was just any other day for the three judges. Chief Justice of India heaved a sigh of relief that all ended well. So did the court staff and security personnel. By 10.30 am on Thursday, rubbing their eyes and sitting in the court were the three judges who had left the court just a while back. It was a new day and business as usual.