Leaders of various parties including BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha and its expelled MP Ram Jethmalani, eminent jurists and persons from different walks of life have submitted a petition to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to waive the death sentence of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon. According to PTI, in the new petition urging stay against imminent execution of Yakub, the signatories claimed that there are substantive and fresh grounds that can be considered on merits. <br/><br/>Besides Sinha and Jethmalani, those, who have signed the petition include MPs like Mani Shankar Aiyar of Congress, Majeed Memon of NCP, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, D Raja of CPI and film personalities like Naseeruddin Shah, Mahesh Bhatt, M K Raina and Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Retired judges like Justice Panachand Jain, Justice H S Bedi, Justice P B Sawant, noted lawyer Indira Jaising have signed the petition while others include academicians like Irfan Habib, Arjun Dev, DN Jha, and social activists Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and John Dayal. <br/><br/>Meanwhile, following a controversy over his tweets about the death sentence of Yakoob, actor Salman Khan yesterday apologised unconditionally over the act and retracted his tweets.

Leaders of various parties including BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha and its expelled MP Ram Jethmalani, eminent jurists and persons from different walks of life have submitted a petition to President Pranab Mukherjee requesting him to waive the death sentence of Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon. According to PTI, in the new petition urging stay against imminent execution of Yakub, the signatories claimed that there are substantive and fresh grounds that can be considered on merits. <br/><br/>Besides Sinha and Jethmalani, those, who have signed the petition include MPs like Mani Shankar Aiyar of Congress, Majeed Memon of NCP, CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, D Raja of CPI and film personalities like Naseeruddin Shah, Mahesh Bhatt, M K Raina and Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Retired judges like Justice Panachand Jain, Justice H S Bedi, Justice P B Sawant, noted lawyer Indira Jaising have signed the petition while others include academicians like Irfan Habib, Arjun Dev, DN Jha, and social activists Aruna Roy, Jean Dreze and John Dayal. <br/><br/>Meanwhile, following a controversy over his tweets about the death sentence of Yakoob, actor Salman Khan yesterday apologised unconditionally over the act and retracted his tweets.