Kasab yet to seek review of death sentence

The sole surviving Pakistani gunman in the 26/11 terror attack is yet to file a review or mercy petition regarding his death sentence, upheld by the Supreme Court (SC) on August 29.

The sole surviving Pakistani gunman in the 26/11 terror attack is yet to file a review or mercy petition regarding his death sentence, upheld by the Supreme Court (SC) on August 29.

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Mohammed Ajmal Ajmir Kasab just smiled when informed four days ago about the ruling after the jail authorities received the order copy from SC, said a jail official.

AC Rane, superintendent of Arthur Road jail — where Kasab is kept in a high security cell — said: “It has been four days since he has been informed about the death sentence. He is yet to tell us about his decision.”

When asked if there was a time limit for the petition, Rane said “He has more than enough time to tell us what he wishes to do. We will convey his decision to the authority concerned.”

If Kasab decides not to seek recourse to judicial processes — like filing a review plea in the Supreme Court or a curative petition (a judicial process to correct any apparent error in a verdict) — or filing a mercy plea with the President, it would bring him much closer to the gallows, as he would no longer be in the long line of death row convicts who have sought recourse to these processes.

Another jail official added, “Sometimes, he laughs for an apparent reason.” But the official insisted that Kasab had not lost his mental balance. “When the order copy was presented to him, he signed properly, with his signature matching the one on the earlier high court order copy. This does imply that he still knows what he is doing.”

He signed the order copy in English, the official added.

Kasab had earlier challenged, in SC, his conviction and the death sentence handed to him by the Bombay high court.