The high court here has confirmed the death sentence on Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab on a charge, among others, of waging war against India, with regard to the November 26, 2008, attacks in Mumbai (‘26/11’).
In its 1,208-page verdict today, the court also held him responsible for the killing of senior police officials Hemant Karkare, who was the Anti-Terrorism Squad chief and was killed near Cama Hospital, along with Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
“There is no scope of reform or rehabilitation of the convicted-accused. This is a rarest of rare matter, so he should face capital punishment.The court cannot be more confident than it is today that death penalty must be given,” said the two-judge bench of Ranjana Desai and R V More, in dismissing an appeal filed by Kasab against the death sentence imposed in May 2010 by special judge M L Tahilyani in May 2010.
Kasab’s lawyer, Farhana Shah, said her client was likely to appeal in the Supreme Court against the HC order. “We will go through the judgement and then suggest Kasab on the next course of legal action. It is up to Kasab to decide,” she said.
Kasab was part of a two-man team with Abu Ismail, who was killed. The two together killed 56 people, the judges observed.
Kasab was the only one of the 10 sent by the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a Pakistan terrorist outfit, to attack Mumbai in November 2008 who was caught alive. The official count of the people they killed was 166.
While upholding Kasab’s death sentence, the HC dismissed Maharashtra government’s appeal against the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed. They were accused of preparing and providing with the maps of Mumbai to the LeT operatives. The government has decided to appeal against the acquittal of the duo in the Supreme Court.
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His conviction was based on the closed-circuit TV footage showing him striding across the Chhattrapati Shivaji (rail) Terminus with an AK-47 gun. A white kurta-clad Kasab appeared briefly in the court today through a video link, with his head down.
Kasab has been kept all along in a bomb-proof and bullet-proof cell at Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail. For security reasons, he was given the option of participating in the HC hearings via video-conference.
Kasab’s counsel had argued the death sentence should not apply because he was only 24 years old. But the judges said, “The diabolical and brutal nature of the crime over-rides the age factor.” They also rejected the argument that a death sentence would turn Kasab into a martyr and inspire other terrorists.