Ajmal Kasab’s mercy plea sends to Indian President

In quite an important development, the mercy plea of lonely survivor of Mumbai terror attack Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab has been dispatched to the President for decision by the Indian Home Ministry.

With the Home Ministry sending its recommendation to the President of India, it is now up to Pranab Mukherjee to take the final decision on the contentious matter.

The President, however, is not bound by a time period to take a decision on the mercy plea.

Earlier, the home ministry rejected Kasab’s plea to commute his death sentence to life, dispatching its recommendation to Pranab Mukherjee for final disposal.

The ministry has forwarded its opinion to the president for a final decision. If the President accepts the opinion, this will leave Kasab, the lone survivor among the 10 Mumbai attackers, with no escape route.

It is to be mention here that it is the final appeal stage against his death sentence. Kasab, currently in jail in Mumbai, was one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to the city in attacks that lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people.

Kasab had moved a mercy petition before the President after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in the 26/11 case on.

On August 29, the Supreme Court had confirmed the death penalty awarded to the LeT operative by the trial court and later upheld by the Bombay High Court.

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad had dismissed the 25-year-old’s plea challenging his conviction and death sentence in the 26/11 case.

He was sentenced to death in May 2010 after he was found guilty of a string of charges, including waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.

India blames the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for training, equipping and financing the gunmen with support from “elements” in the Pakistan military.

President Pranab Mukherjee, who took office in July, is considering 11 other appeals from death row prisoners.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Oct 24 2012. Filed under Pakistan, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.