CBI wants death for Memons

Prosecution lawyer CS Sharma argued on the quantum of punishment for Yakub, Essa and Yusuf— brothers of absconding main accused Tiger Memon— saying they had committed a “brutal crime”, and this being a rare case, capital punishment should be awarded to them. He, however, sought life term for Tiger Memon's sister-in-law Rubeena, as she has small children.

Defence advocate, Harshad Ponda, made a case for why the least sentence should be awarded to the Memon family members found guilty. He cited a Supreme Court judgment relating to the accused in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case.

The case categorises four sets of accused. The first category is the nucleus which took the decisions, and “and these are absconding”. The second group is the one that induced the others to participate in the conspiracy. The third category are those who joined the conspiracy due to inducement. The fourth are the conspirators who committed the crime (the planters). “My contention is that we belong to the third category,” said Ponda.

Arguing on the quantum of Yusuf and Essa's sentence, Ponda said both were just 21 and 23 years old respectively at the time. Besides Yusuf was suffering from chronic schizoprenia since 1991 and Essa was recently diagnosed with brain tumour. “Suppose I sentence someone, will it relate to the date of offence or situation today?” asked judge Kode. Ponda replied: “Obviously today sir. Because that's what will affect him now.”

He also argued the judge should consider that Essa has already undergone over 12 years in jail. Ponda said Yakub too has spent 13 years in jail. Ponda will file his reply on Monday.