NEW DELHI (NNN-AGENCIES) -- Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab's legal battle for life in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack Wednesday came to an end with the Supreme Court upholding his death sentence, while observing that the conspiracy for the attack was hatched in Pakistan.
The apex court held him guilty of waging war against the country in the Mumbai terror attack case in which 166 people were killed and said it was left with no option but to uphold the death sentence.
A Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad dismissed 25-year-old Ajmal Kasab's plea against his conviction and death sentence confirmed by the Bombay High Court, saying he was given free and fair trial in the case.
"Kasab's confessional statement was very much voluntary except a very small portion," the bench held.
It also dismissed Ajmal Kasab's contention that the trial was not fair because the government did not provide him advocate during the time when he was arrested and put on trial.
"If lawyers are not provided at the commencement of trial, then the trial is vitiated. But the trial is not vitiated if a lawyer is not provided at pre-trial stage," the bench said.
The Bench also observed that going by the evidence, it was clear that the conspiracy and planning of the 26/11 attack was hatched in Pakistan.
"We are more than certain that conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan," the bench said.
Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who defended Kasab in the apex court as amicus curiae, said he "bows down" to the apex court verdict, which upheld his death sentence.
"I bow to the verdict of the court.... I took it (the opportunity to defend Kasab) as a sacred duty and I performed it to the best of my ability," said Ramachandran, who was appointed amicus by the apex court.
Former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, who had appeared for the Maharashtra government, also welcomed the verdict saying it is "a victory of justice and the Constitution of the country."
After the Supreme Court's verdict, Kasab is left with an option of filing review petition in the apex court.
Kasab along with nine other Pakistani terrorists had landed in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night after travelling from Karachi by sea and had gone on a shooting spree at various city landmarks.
While Kasab was the lone terrorist captured alive, the other terrorists in his group were killed by security forces during the counter-terror operations.
The apex court also upheld the acquittal of Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, the two alleged Indian conspirators in the Mumbai terror attack case.
The trial court and the Bombay High Court had also given clean chit to both of them in the case.
The bench had reserved its verdict on April 25 after a marathon hearing, spanning over two-and-a-half months of arguments by the prosecution and defence counsel in the case.
Kasab, during arguments in the apex court, had contended that he was not given a free and fair trial and that he was not part of any larger conspiracy for waging war against India.
He had said his right against self-incrimination as well as that to get himself adequately represented by a counsel to defend himself in the case had been violated during the trial.
The apex court had stayed Kasab's death sentence on October 10, last year.
Kasab, in his special leave petition (SLP) filed through the jail authorities against the Bombay High Court's February 21, 2011 judgement, which had confirmed his death sentence, had claimed he was brainwashed like a "robot" into committing the crime in the name of "God" and pleaded that he did not deserve the death penalty keeping in view his young age.
Kasab, who is lodged in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai, was sentenced to death by a special anti-terror court on May 6, 2010. Kasab's death penalty was upheld on charges of criminal conspiracy, waging war against the nation and various other provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the anti-terror law – Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
India on Wednesday said it was sure that Pakistan would not fail to take note of the Supreme Court verdict upholding the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11 attacks.
Asserting that the issue of terrorism was of concern to the international community, External Affairs Minister SM Krishna said in TEHRAN, IRAN that the entire gamut of bilateral ties will be discussed during the Indo-Pak talks, implying that terror will be the prime focus during the parleys.
"The Supreme Court is the highest court of appeal in India and when it announces something it becomes law of the land. Other things will follow," he said of the apex court verdict upholding the death sentence of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convict Kasab.
"I am sure Pakistan will not fail to take note of it," Krishna said and quickly added that the Pakistani judiciary is also proactive.
Krishna, who is in Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement's ministerial conference, made the remarks ahead of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with Pakistani Pres Zardari Thursday evening on the sidelines of the NAM Summit.
Singh arrived here Tuesday on a four-day visit to attend the Summit and hold crucial bilateral meetings with the Iranian leadership, apart from holding parleys with the leaders of other countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
India has already made a clear distinction between the Mumbai terror attacks and Samjhauta train blasts, saying the two were "very different" and at some stage Islamabad needs to "come clean" on this.
Asserting that India has provided enough evidence to show involvement of not only non-state actors but also of official hierarchy in 26/11 attacks, government sources said Singh will raise the issue of terrorism, which is of prime concern to the country, with Zardari, who is arriving here Thursday to participate in the 16th NAM summit.
The government sources said other bilateral issues will also be discussed during the Singh-Zardari meeting.
Asked about Pakistan equating the Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people were killed, with Samjhauta Express blasts in which 67 Pakistani nationals died, sources said, "... There is no comparison. We have shown the will to take action, not chosen to make statements of convenience".
The sources also noted that India had managed to convict some of those involved in the Mumbai attacks through the same set of evidence which was provided to Islamabad in a trial which was not a "show trial".
Pakistan keeps switching judges, and people inside the jails are using mobile phones to run their network, the sources said, clearly expressing India's unhappiness over the slow progress of the 26/11 trial in that country.
The remarks, which were made in the backdrop of Pakistan equating the two incidents to project that it is also a victim of terrorism, also assume significance given that they come before the structured Indo-Pak talks between their Foreign Ministers in Islamabad next week. -- NNN-AGENCIES
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