In appeal to SC, Ajmal Kasab challenges death sentence

Ajmal Kasab, the man who in many ways represents the face of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in India, has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the death sentence on him for his role in the November 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, according to media reports. A trial court had in May 2010 sentenced Kasab, the sole surviving gunman of the 26/11 attack that killed 166 people, to death after finding him guilty of 80 offences, including waging war against the nation. That death sentence had been upheld by the Bombay High Court in February 2011. [caption id=“attachment_50264” align=“alignright” width=“380” caption=“Ajmal Kasab was sentenced to death for waging war on India. Reuters”]  [/caption] “Kasab filed the appeal directly through jail authorities, who sent it to the Supreme Court Secretary-General,” The Hindu reports. “Once the appeal against the February 21 judgment is processed and numbered by the Registry, the Supreme Court will list it for hearing.” Kasab, who hails from Faridkot village in Pakistan’s Punjab province, was one of many terrorists who came from Pakistan by boat and staged 10 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across Mumbai for three days from 26 November 2008. Kasab was under instructions from his Pakistani handlers to keep killing until he died, but was captured by police. During interrogation, he revealed that he and the other gunmen had plans to kill 5,000 people and destroy the Taj Mahal Hotel. Kasab was convicted based on CCTV footage showing him striding across the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus with an AK-47 and a backpack. While convicting him, the court had ruled that Kasab was guilty of directly killing seven people and a total of 59 with associate Abu Ismail, who was shot dead after running into a police picket at Girgaun Chowpatty . In the 21 February order upholding Kasab’s death sentence, a two-judge division bench comprising justices Ranjana Desai and RV More had observed: “This is rarest of rare matter so he should face capital punishment.” The order said the “weightiest aggravating circumstance” against Kasab was that he had “waged a war” against the Indian government based on a conspirac hatched in Pakistan with the objective of destabilising the Indian government and weakening India’s economy. “He indulged in mindless killings of innocent people with a view to overawing the Government of India," the court ruled. “There was an attempt to create ill will and disaffection among different religions of India so as to damage its secular fabric. Waging war is a serious crime which calls for deterrent punishment.” Highlighting the magnitude of the attack, and extent of planning that went into it, the court considered him “a threat to society.”