'People are not asking for Yakub's acquittal, but commuting his death sentence'

'Leave B Raman aside, 50 eminent personalities have written about commuting his death sentence. Even a retired judge of the Supreme Court has written about it.'

Shyam Keswani was the first lawyer to defend 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon, whose appeal for commuting his death sentence is scheduled for hearing in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, July 28.

Keswani, left, below, speaks about the case to Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com

Will Yakub Memon get relief in the Supreme Court?

Since there are chances of getting a reprieve, they have applied for it in the Supreme Court.

On what basis do you think the Supreme Court can grant him relief?

So many prominent personalities have collectively pleaded before the Supreme Court to grant him relief.

Are these people asking to acquit Yakub Memon? No, what they are asking for is to commute his death sentence.

After B Raman's article on Yakub Memon was published on Rediff.com...

Leave B Raman aside, 50 eminent personalities have written about commuting his death sentence. Even a retired judge of the Supreme Court has written about it. Nobody is talking about it.

What role did then special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam play in Yakub Memon's conviction?

He is not God, he is a media creation. Logon ne sar pe chadha rakha hai (people have put him up on a pedestal)!

He is not a patch on the greatest of prosecutors like Karl Khandalwala, like D J Khambata or Ram Jethmalani.