Kasab's fate at HC's hand;verdict of 26/11 culprit

Mumbai, Feb 7: Bombay High Court today (Feb 7) will declare the final date of delivering Ajmal Kasab's verdict of confirming the death sentence.

Kasab, the only surviving gunman of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has been conferred death sentence by a special court in Mumbai.

Along with the verdict on confirmation of death penalty, the Hight Court would also give judgment on an appeal filed by Kasab against his conviction and also on the appeal filed by Maharashtra Government against acquittal of co-accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the same case.

Arguments on these matters began on Oct 17, 2010 and were heard on a day-to-day basis by the court except for brief periods during Diwali and Christmas holidays.

For the first time, a video conference link was put upin the Court for hearing appeals. Cameras were installed in court room to enable Kasab hear proceedings from jail.

Justifying death penalty to Kasab, Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam displayed photographs and CDs showing him in terror acts and questioned the trial court's order which accepted Kasab's confession partially, saying it should be considered in toto.

Defence lawyer Amin Solkar argued that Kasab was not a terrorist and said photos were morphed. The CDs were not clear and showed some other person looking similar to Kasab. He alleged that police encounter at Girgaum was stage-managed to implicate Kasab and denied the gunman had killed policemen Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamate and Vijay Salaskar.

OneIndia News
(With inputs from PTI)