The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the death penalty awarded to Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist convicted for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, holding him guilty of waging war against India and saying capital punishment was the only suitable sentence for him.
“We are constrained to hold that the death penalty is the only sentence that can be given in (this) case,” a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad said, rejecting Kasab’s contention that he was not given a free and fair trial.
The Supreme Court held that going by the evidence in the case, “we are more than certain that the conspiracy (26/11 attacks) was hatched in Pakistan”.
The court also upheld the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, both Indian citizens, who were accused by the police of giving topographical inputs to Kasab and his accomplices prior to 26/11. The Maharashtra government had challenged their acquittal by the Bombay high court.