SC verdict on Yakub Memon plea gives message that guilty won't be spared: Ujjwal Nikam

MUMBAI: Supreme Court's verdict dismissing Yakub Memon's plea against death warrant sends a stern message that perpetrators and conspirators of terror acts will not be spared, the Special Public Prosecutor in 1993 serial bomb blasts case, Ujjwal Nikam, said.

The ruling, delivered by a three-judge Bench, also makes it clear that conspirators of terror acts were equally responsible for the crime and will face severe punishment such as death penalty, said the prosecutor Nikam.

"The SC verdict would also send a strong signal to the people across the border that law has held conspirators to be liable for severe sentence such as death penalty," said Nikam, reacting to the apex court ruling.

Justice would ultimately prevail and the guilty would be brought to book, he said.

The prosecutor hoped the absconding accused, who are suspected to be hiding in Pakistan, would also be apprehended soon and brought to India to stand trial for the bombings.

A dozen coordinated RDX-laden bombs had rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993, leaving 257 people dead and over 700 injured.

Gangsters Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, elder brother of Yakub, who are said to be in Pakistan, have been named as prime conspirators for the terror attack.

Yakub, a 53-year-old chartered accountant by profession, was found guilty of financing the terror operations by arranging for tickets of accused who were sent to Pakistan from Mumbai via Dubai for arms training.

Investigations revealed RDX was used for the first time in India in the 1993 bombings and the deadly explosive had been smuggled into India from the neighbouring country.

The death sentence awarded to Yakub would send a strong signal to absconding accused in Pakistan that guilty would not be spared, Nikam further added.