"Do you know who I am?," Yakub Memon asked me during one of my early reporting assignments spent at the Special TADA court housed on Arthur Road jail premises. I was then a 21-year-old court reporter with a newly made special ID card that gave me access to cover the most important trial in India. Of course I knew who he was, a prime accused in the biggest terrorist act that India has witnessed. Before I could react to his query, he smiled, introduced himself and sat with me and another defence lawyer, casually discussing the legal points of the case. The lawyer told me more about him later with some awe — his high education (chartered accountancy) and his keen understanding of legal procedures. Although I was sceptical about talking to him, simply because he was "the dreaded criminal of the deadliest attack in India so far", by the end of that conversation, I did notice his doubts and concerns about the case that had already gone on for seven years.
It inadvertently made me cover the trial and my interactions with each of the accused with far more self-scrutiny and care. For court reporters who covered the 1993 serial blasts trial, during those 14 years, the Arthur Road jail became a second home for us. Due to security reasons and the absence of any diversions near the court (except an udipi and a tea stall), we would spend hours in the special court. It was heavily guarded from the outside but inside, the atmosphere was quite different. There were around 100 undertrials who occupied half of the court room. After a point, the accused became not just familiar but we would exchange pleasantries and small talk. I also got to know the court staff, lawyers, the police (I am still in touch with one of the lady police constables and we update each other on important life events) and, of course, the other reporters. It almost seemed as if the trial would go on forever.
The atmosphere was strangely ordinary and orderly. It was only actor Sanjay Dutt's appearances and Yakub's rare outbursts that disturbed the otherwise eerily disciplined court proceedings. Dutt's appearance created a stir for obvious reasons while Yakub's outbursts were sometimes linked to schizophrenia, sometimes to depression. It made him an intriguing subject and was one of reasons that the case assumed such importance and was so interesting from a reporter's perspective. The arrest of Yakub and his family had been such a major development in the Bombay blast case and his own story became so intriguing that it became the story and commanded our attention for the longest time. He kept on insisting that he came back to his own country and surrendered because he had faith in the law. Coming from someone whose family was clearly behind the most devastating terrorist act that scarred the city forever, it was difficult to accept his version, or forget the fact that 257 people had been killed and more than 700 injured in the series of explosions in crowded places.