Mumbai, Sep 12 (IANS) After a 13-year agonising wait, a special court Tuesday began delivering its verdict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case in batches, convicting four members of Mumbai's powerful Memon family and acquitting three others.

The entire Memon family - barring brother Tiger Memon, currently absconding and suspected to be one of the brains behind the blasts along with mob boss Dawood Ibrahim - were in the special court in the Arthur Road jail premises to face different charges.

Most of them, including all the women, have been out on bail for some time now.

Judge P.D. Kode, who delivered the judgement in batches after dividing the 123 accused into various groups, found four Memon family members - Rabina, Yakub, Yusuf and Essa - guilty of abetting acts of terror.

The court could not bring charges against the other three members - Suleiman, Hanifa and Rahin - who were acquitted after being given the benefit of doubt.

The sentence could be between five years in prison and a life term.

Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant, was listed as number one on the list of 123 people charged by the CBI. He was reportedly abusive when the finding against him was read out.

Yakub has been in jail since his arrest in 1994 but, somewhat strangely, filed for bail on medical grounds a few days ago when the day of judgement had been fixed.

Tuesday's verdict comes 13 years after a series of 13 devastating blasts on March 11, 1993, killed 257 and injured about 700. It is India's longest criminal trial against terrorists - it began June 30, 1995, and ended Sep 19, 2003.