‘Stay on Kasab’s death penalty normal judicial process: Home dept

The Maharashtra government is looking at the stay, ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) on the death sentence of the lone surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday, as part of the ‘normal judicial procedure’.

The Maharashtra government is looking at the stay, ordered by the Supreme Court (SC) on the death sentence of the lone surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday, as part of the ‘normal judicial procedure’.

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Kasab, 23, is one of the 10 gunmen who held the city at gunpoint for nearly three days from July 26, 2008, leading to the death of 166 people. He was convicted by the Bombay high court and awarded death sentence against which he appealed in the SC. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam is handling the case with senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam.

“The stay is part of the regular judicial process as the court needs to hear both sides,” said Umeshchandra Sarangi,
additional chief secretary (home).

Following the stay, questions were raised about the failure of the state’s advocates, which Sarangi completely ruled out.

He added in the absence of the stay, there was no stopping the government from going ahead with the terminal punishment.