The two lawyers appointed by the Bombay high court to argue Ajmal Kasab's appeal against his death sentence in the 26/11 attack case on Saturday met the Pakistani terrorist at the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai. On June 8, the high court had appointed Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah as lawyers to argue Kasab's appeal. "We met Kasab for nearly 20 minutes in his cell and spoke to him about the case. We told him that the court had appointed both of us to argue his appeal," Shah said.
A 26/11 prosecution witness is not traceable for last three months and all efforts to find him have gone in vain, a special court trying Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and two others was informed on Tuesday.
A Pakistan court declaring Ajmal Kasab an absconder and issuing a non-bailable warrant against him have proved beyond doubt that the gunman is a Pakistani and had taken part in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Monday.
Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive in the Mumbai carnage, appeared before court for the first time through video conferencing from his prison and the trial in the terror attack is set to begin from March 23.
After National Security Adviser Mahmud Ali Durrani, it was the turn of the Special Public Prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case to be sacked by the Pakistan government for making controversial remarks on the lone captured terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
Pakistani authorities were on Saturday caught on the wrong foot as an anti-terror court hearing the 26/11 case was told that Interpol was yet to be approached for a Red Corner notice for Ajmal Kasab, weeks after they claimed the matter had been taken up with the Paris-based agency.
The mammoth chargesheet has been filed and the Mumbai police can proceed and try three people with immediate effect -- Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed. However, what would happen to the likes of Yusuf Muzzamil and Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhwi who find a mention in the chargesheet as the key conspirators? The satellite phone transcripts and various confessional statements prove their role in the case.
Leading advocates say there is no way in which Ajmal Kasab can retract from the statement he made under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
A jail in Bihar has offered to supply its famous 'manila' rope to hang Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on Mumbai, who was awarded the death sentence by a special court on Thursday.Buxar prison is the only jail in the country that has expertise in manufacturing wax-coated manila rope, which can withstand the tension caused by the fall of the convict after the execution.Manufacturing a manila rope is a tedious affair.
Legal experts told rediff.com that there is no hard and fast rule that mercy petitions should be disposed off in order. The President can take a call and take up the matter out of turn. The President must be satisfied that there is an extraordinary circumstance concerning this case and hence it must be taken out of turn.
Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab should not be allowed to approach the Supreme Court and should be hanged publicly, says Kavita Karkare, wife of slain Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare. Reacting to the special court awarding the death sentence to Kasab, Kavita said, "I don't think this is the end of the chapter of 26/11. This is just the beginning. Now we should hang Kasab publicly and we should not give him a chance to go to the Supreme Court".
For Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, the death penalty to Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist in 26/11 attack, is a welcome step. But it cannot help in bringing back his daughter and son-in-law, who lost their lives in the 26/11 attacks. "It feels good that the court has awarded death sentence to the terrorist. But it does not comfort us because Gabi and Rivki cannot come back," Rabbi Shimon told PTI over the phone from Israel.
The judge rejected the argument saying there is no bona fide argument or evidence that Kasab did the act under duress or because of pressure from the LeT or its chief Hafeez Saeed. "There was no duress, no pressure on Kasab. Rather, when they were in Karachi their travel got delayed. At that time Kasab was anxious to attack India."
Judge M L Tahaliyani on Thursday awarded the death sentence to Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on the city in November 2008, for the carnage that had claimed 166 lives.
The bottom line is that carrying out Kasab's death sentence is not going to bring closure to the 26/11 case. For that matter, the conviction of the terrorists being tried in Pakistan will not end the menace of terrorism in India. The real closure will come only with the closure of the Jihad factory in Pakistan, which in turn will happen only if Pakistan takes concerted and sincere efforts to de-radicalise its society and its polity, neither of which are on the anvil.
The prosecution in the 26/11 terror attacks case on Thursday sought imposition of a compensation on Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab for causing huge damage to property to the tune of Rs 155.73 crore during the attacks. But the court refused to consider the plea raising a query as to who would pay it.
As Ajmal Kasab's trial comes to a close we catch up with 'Goli' Chauhan born just as the terrorists created havoc at Mumbai's Cama Hospital.
A decision on the issue of shifting Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who was sentenced to death in the 26/11 case, outside Mumbai would be taken on Friday, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said in Mumbai on Thursday.
In the wake of the sentencing of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 terror attacks, India on Thursday pressed for the extradition of his co-conspirators based in Pakistan, so that they could be brought to justice in New Delhi.External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said the trial and sentence awarded to Kasab sends a message to Pakistan that justice will be meted out to anyone waging war against this country.
Madan Laxmandas Tahiliyani, the judge who sent Ajmal Kasab to gallows, is versatile in both criminal and civil laws, an experience that came in handy during many a tricky moment during the Mumbai terror attack trial.
The usage of the phrase 'rarest of rare cases' has a very interesting history attached to it in India.
The death of the biggest mass murderer on Indian soil is evident with the special court handing out the death sentence to Ajmal Kasab. Even though he is a Pakistani national tried in the Indian court, all norms prescribed will apply to him since he has been convicted under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai terror attacks, has been sentenced to death -- the ultimate punishment available under the Indian Penal Code under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
A thick security blanket has been thrown in areas in the vicinity and checkpoints and security bunkers have been set up at all major junctions in the city.
As Ajmal Kasab awaits punishment after being held guilty in the Mumbai attacks, the widow of an American killed in the terror strikes says she does not favour death penalty for the Pakistani gunman and prefers him to be jailed for life.
Former police officers and judges of the High Court and Supreme Court say that there is a need to bring back tougher laws since cases of terrorism have international ramification and under normal procedures there are too many obstacles that make the case of the prosecution extremely difficult.
Motivational speeches are key to the making of a jihadi. Even the 26/11 murderers were repeatedly asked to read and listen to speeches by Anwar al-Awlaki, who has written on the 44 different ways of supporting jihad.
Nikam, who has an enviable track record of securing death penalty for 37 accused and life term to 627 in his career spanning over three decades, is confident that Kasab, the lone 26/11 gunman captured, will be punished despite his repeated attempts to "misguide" the court.
Three days before the anti-terror court pronounces its verdict, 23-year-old Vaishali Omble, daughter of the slain policeman, told PTI that her family will never forgive Kasab, who altered their lives forever.
"Why has Kasab been kept alive? He should not be shown any mercy and hanged without delay," says an angry Jamuna as she waits for justice to be done to her family five days from now when the anti-terror court is to pronounce its verdict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case.
Modi had recently attacked the UPA government for asking Pakistan to accept the statement of Kasab as evidence and said that India itself 'does not have a similar provision under its laws'.
Four months after S G Abbas Kazmi was removed by the 26/11 special court to defend Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, the aggrieved lawyer on Wednesday moved the Bombay high court, seeking contempt action against trial Judge M L Tahaliyani for abruptly sacking him. Kazmi said the judge had acted arbitrarily and his action had no legal foundation, because he was removed for merely objecting to the prosecution's move to file the affidavits of 232 witnesses of formal character.
A single lie saved him on November 26, 2008. The chairman of a private bank, who had been taken hostage by terrorists at Hotel Taj on the fateful day, recounted his moving and gripping escape to the special court that was hearing the terror attack case on Thursday.
Mahmood Ali Durrani, who was sacked as the Pakistan's National Security Advisor after he acknowledged Ajmal Kasab's Pakistani nationality, has insisted that Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed had no role in the 26/11 terror strike and has asked New Delhi not to "push" Islamabad.
Former National Security Adviser of Pakistan Mahmud Ali Durrani, who was sacked after disclosing to media the Pakistani nationality of Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab, has said he had written authorisation from the prime minister to speak on the evolving situation in the wake of the 26/11 strikes.
After 'mutton biriyani', 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab now wants 'basmati' rice served to him in jail.
"Such material cannot be treated as ample proof," a source in the Foreign Office was quoted as saying by The News daily.The statement of Iman alias Ajmal Kasab does not amount to admissible proof under "any penal code anywhere in the world, including India or Pakistan," it said.
Ajmal Kasab has revealed details of the 'final lesson' or shahdat given to him and his nine associates. The motivational speech was delivered by Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, before he escorted them to Karachi port.
Intelligence Bureau agents say Abu Hamza followed the Lashkar brief, promising the would-be terrorists escape and safety in Pakistan once their mission was completed.
After weeks of denying the possibility, Pakistan turned around on its position -- admitting to CNN-IBN that some or all of the terrorists who carried out the 26th November attacks on Mumbai- could have been Pakistani nationals.
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