16 JULY 2015: Maharashtra issues death warrant for Yakub Momon

Ø  It was a government in retreat on Wednesday, as the Centre agreed to consider a demand from the States that they be allowed the flexibility to frame their own laws for land acquisitions or continue to look for a consensus on The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2015.

Ø  A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court here has issued the death warrant against Yakub Memon, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blast case. The move comes even as his curative petition is pending before the Supreme Court. Special TADA judge G.A. Sanap signed the death warrant on April 29. It says Memon is likely to be hanged at the Central jail in Nagpur at 7 a.m. on July 30, Shubail Farook, his lawyer in the Supreme Court, told The Hindu. Asked how a death warrant could be issued when a petition was pending, Mr. Farook said, “That is the malady of our system.”