Kasab sentenced to death

Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani gave Kasab the death penalty on four counts: waging war against India, murder, conspiracy to commit murder and indulging in terrorist activities.

To be hanged by the neck till death, intoned Judge Tahaliyani after reading out the four counts under which Ajmal Amir Kasab was sentenced, ending the country's fastest major terrorism trial and opening the way for an appeal process that may take years to conclude.

The 22-year-old from a village in Pakistan's Punjab province, who became the face of the 2008 assault on Mumbai that left 166 people dead, broke down as Tahaliyani read out the sentence.

Kasab, the only gunman amongst the 10 assailants to be captured alive, was also given a life-term on five other indictments out of a the total 86 charges.

"The death sentence is required"

Tahaliyani said ordinary Indians would lose faith in the legal system if Kasab was given life. "The death sentence is required," he said as he wound up his statement.

Earlier in the week India's quest for justice after the worst terror attack in its history had culminated with the court pronouncing Kasab guilty on all counts while acquitting the two co-accused Indian nationals Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.

Sevanti Parekh, who lost his son Sunil and daughter-in-law Reshma in the attacks at the Oberoi-Trident hotel, said, "everything is fine, but yes, I will consider a closure when the masterminds who sit across the border are apprehended and dealt with. That's the only way we can save our next generation."

Presidential assent may be needed

Hanging Kasab may take longer than many people anticipate since the death sentence handed down by the special court will now have to be endorsed by the Supreme Court and, in case of a mercy petition, will require the president's assent.

The entire process could take years if not decades as there are at least 52 people still waiting for presidential assent on their execution, while nearly 300 others condemned to the gallows by lower courts are awaiting the apex court's endorsement.

Human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves opposes the death penalty and dismisses claims that it serves to prevent capital offenses: "we don't want to go down the route the terrorists want us to go. The terrorists want us to kill, the terrorists want us to hang. With every act of violence by the Indian state, the terrorists get justification for their violence. The moment we break from that, the moment we take a different path, the terrorists lose their justification for violence."

However, others disagree and advocate the use of the death penalty. Mumbai lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani believes it does act as a deterrent: "I think there is nothing more precious than life and this argument is completely misconceived. I think given an opportunity between hard labour, solitary confinement and ceasing to exist altogether, I think particularly young people would prefer to live and have a chance that one day they may taste freedom."

The list of prisoners already condemned to the gallows in India but waiting for the president to agree to their execution includes Mohammed Afzal Guru, convicted for his role in the December 2001 attack on parliament.

Author: Murali Krishnan
Editor: Grahame Lucas