Judge M.L. Tahaliyani imposed the death penalty against Ajmal Amir Kasab on four counts of murder, waging war against India, conspiracy and terrorism offences.
“He should be hanged by the neck until he is dead,” he said. “I don’t find any case for a lesser punishment than death in the case of waging war against India, murder and terrorist acts.”
Kasab, 22, dressed in a traditional white tunic, sat with his head in his hands staring at the floor of the dock as the judge passed sentence, three days after his conviction on Monday.
Tahaliyani said the evidence showed “previous, meticulous and systematic planning” of the atrocity, which left 166 people dead and hundreds injured and prompted India to halt peace talks with Pakistan.
“Brutality was writ large,” he added, describing the offences as “of exceptional depravity”.
Branded a “killing machine” and “cruelty incarnate” by the prosecution, Kasab was the only gunman caught alive in the 60-hour assault by 10 gunmen on luxury hotels, a railway station, a restaurant and a Jewish centre.
A photograph of him carrying a powerful AK-47 assault rifle and backpack at Mumbai’s main railway station, where he and an accomplice killed 52 people, became a defining image of the attacks.
Observers say a lengthy, possibly open-ended, appeal through the Indian courts is likely. India’s government officially supports capital punishment for what the Supreme Court in New Delhi has called the “rarest of rare” cases but no execution has been carried out since 2004 and only two since 1998.
Many pleas for clemency to the president are still pending, including ones from the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991, and a Kashmiri who attacked India’s parliament in 2001.
The case will automatically pass to Mumbai’s high court, which will review the sentence. Kasab can then appeal to the Supreme Court and ultimately ask for clemency from the president.
“I have not yet spoken to Kasab to discuss a future course of action.” defence lawyer K.P. Pawar told reporters outside court.
A nearby crowd chanted “Victory to India” while public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam flashed victory signs to the media and brandished a dossier showing Kasab behind an image of a giant noose.
“In light of the offences Kasab has committed, the sentence sends out a message to those who want to wage war against India,” Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna told reporters in reaction.
India wants Pakistan to convict the alleged masterminds of the assault from the banned group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The group’s founder, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, and key operative Zarar Shah are currently on trial in Pakistan. India also blames Hafiz Saeed, head of the Jamaatud Dawa charity, which is seen as a front for the LeT.
“We certainly will keep engaging Pakistan in light of the sentence,” Krishna added.
A 49-year-old Pakistani-American, David Headley, was arrested in Chicago last year and has since admitted spending two years casing out targets in India’s financial and entertainment capital.
Kasab first pleaded not guilty but then made a shock confession, urging the court to hang him. But he later reverted to his initial denial, saying he had been framed by police after coming to Mumbai “to see cinema”.
Meanwhile, the Indian home minister said the prosecutors would appeal against the acquittal of two Indian suspects over the attacks.
The two Indians, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, were acquitted by the special Mumbai court trying the case after the judge gave them the “benefit of doubt”, P. Chidambaram told parliament.
“The prosecution has indicated that it will appeal against their acquittal,” he added.
The judge had ordered that Ansari and Ahmed, who were accused of helping the gunmen with logistical support, be released from prison.
Source: AFP