Kasab’s mercy plea rejected by Home Ministry
New Delhi: The lone Surviving terrorist of 26/11 Mumbai Terror attack, Ajmal Amir Kasab’s mercy plea has been rejected by the government.
After nearly a four-year-long legal battle, 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. Upholding Kasab’s conviction, the apex Court had said that he killed without “the slightest twinge of conscience”.
A top Home Ministry official said Kasab’s mercy petition has been dismissed as he was involved in a grave crime and waging war against India that led to killing 166 people, including foreigners.
The Pakistani gunman is currently lodged in the bomb-proof and an egg-shaped cell at the high-security Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai.
After the Home Ministry’s recommendation, it is now left to President Pranab Mukherjee to take a final decision on Kasab’s mercy plea.
There are more than a dozen mercy petitions pending before the President for final decision which include Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru.
