Mumbai, February 07: The Bombay High Court will deliver the final verdict on lone surviving militant of 2008 Mumbai attacks on February 21.
The High Court, who had reserved its verdict on death sentence to Kasab, on Monday announced the final date for the judgment.
Apart from Kasab, the court will also pronounce the verdict on Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Shaikh. Ansari and Shaikh are Indian accused in the case, who were acquitted by the special court. The state government had challenged the acquittal of both Indian accused in the High Court.
In May 2010, a Special Mumbai Court had convicted Kasab on five counts, including waging war against India, murder and conspiracy. Kasab was awarded death sentence by the special court.
Later, Kasab challanged the death sentence in Bombay High Court. Justices Ranjana Desai and R V More are hearing the Kasab’s appeal against the death penalty.
In the three-and-a-half-month-old hearing in the high court, Kasab’s lawyers argued for a life sentence for him, saying a death penalty will only make him a martyr. But the prosecution has maintained all along that for a crime as heinous as 26/11, Kasab deserves nothing less than capital punishment.
“Pakistan has not yet begun trying the accused in the 26/11 case there, and we have already come to the end of the second step in our legal proceedings in such a short span of time,” Special Public Prosecutor,Ujjwal Nikam said.
On November 26, 2008, Mumbai became the target of India’s worst terror attack which lasted 62 hours, and claimed 166 lives.
——-Agencies