A Special TADA court on Wednesday adjourned till Thursday the pronouncement of the quantum of punishment to the four members of the Memon family held guilty for the 1993 Mumbai blasts as well as the verdict for the next eight on the list of 123 accused.
Judge P.D. Kode, who on Tuesday began the process of delivering the verdict in batches of eight, will spend the first half of Thursday reading out the judgment of accused nine to 18 in the list.
Accused number 9 is Mohammed Shoaib Ghansar, who was allegedly involved in planting a scooter laden with RDX at Zaveri Bazaar. He is also said to have helped prime accused Tiger Memon flee the country.
The second half will be devoted to pronouncing the quantum of punishment to the four Memons -- Tiger Memon's brothers Yusuf, Essa and Yakub and sister-in-law Rabina.
The court deferred the hearing by a day as the Memons decided to replace their lawyer Majjid Memon with Harshad Ponda.
Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam urged the court that the arguments on the quantum of punishment of the four convicted Memons be held after the verdict of those who allegedly planted bombs in 13 different places in Mumbai on March 12, 1993 was announced.
Essa and Yusuf applied for bail on medical grounds on Wednesday. Yakub told the court that Yusuf, a schizophrenic, was not getting his medicines in jail. He said Yusuf had been granted bail in 1998 on the same grounds.
{{/usCountry}}Essa and Yusuf applied for bail on medical grounds on Wednesday. Yakub told the court that Yusuf, a schizophrenic, was not getting his medicines in jail. He said Yusuf had been granted bail in 1998 on the same grounds.
{{/usCountry}}Essa told the court he was suffering from various illnesses and should be granted bail till the final judgment was handed down. But the court adjourned the hearing on the applications till Thursday.
(With agency inputs)