Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case Ujjwal Nikam on Thursday expressed happiness over awarding of death sentence to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for the carnage, saying the verdict has delivered justice to the families of the victims.
There are many myths about the practice of awarding a death sentence to a convict. It is popularly believed, thanks to mainstream Hindi films, that the judge breaks his nib after pronouncing the sentence.According to legal experts, the nib-breaking custom was followed by judges during the British era. Judges believed that a pen that has been used to take away the life of a human being should never be used again. But the custom was discontinued in post-independence India.
A Mumbai Special Court, which conducted the trial of 26/11 terror strikes, is all set to announce the quantum of punishment on Thursday. The entire country is waiting for Judge M L Tahiliyani to pronounce punishment for lone surviving Pakistani terrorist--Ajmal Amir Kasab.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and Justices Ghulam Rabbani and Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday gave the directive after taking up the petition filed by Lakhvi, who is being tried with six others by the anti- terrorism court in Rawalpindi on charges of planning and facilitating the Mumbai attacks.
Pakistan will examine the issue of providing assistance to Ajmal Kasab, convicted by an Indian court for involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, only if he seeks such aid, Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said.
The special court at Arthur Road jail has found Ajmal Kasab, lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11 attacks case, guilty of waging war against India and killing 170 people on 26/11.
Rediff.com correspondent Vicky Nanjappa, who has been following and reporting on the case since the attacks, took up readers' queries about the Ajmal Kasab verdict. Here's the chat transcipt
The family of slain assistant police sub-inspector Tukaram Ombale, who caught Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab alive during the 26/11 terror attacks, expressed satisfaction with the terrorist's conviction but demanded that he should be given the death penalty. "It is good to hear that Kasab was found guilty. We were eagerly awaiting this news since morning. He should be given the death penalty," said Vaishali Ombale, daughter of the policeman.
A lawyer defending the seven Pakistanis, including Lashkar-e-Tayiba top commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks on Monday claimed that a verdict against Ajmal Kasab would result in the dropping of the main charge against his clients.
The real brilliance of this RSS campaign, therefore, lies in building a dominant power base with, and for, a mostly non-RSS leadership. That is why the rise of the BJP in Assam is their stand-out victory, says Shekhar Gupta.
Authorities of the Mumbai police had to protect Ajmal Kasab, the sole Pakistani terrorist arrested during the November 26 attack on the city, not only from the angry public, but even "from within the (police) department," Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Rakesh Maria said on Monday. "There was a lot of public anger. The dept had lost some of the best officers (during the attack), so we had to protect Kasab from within dept because there was anger in the department," said Maria.
Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam remains calm just a day before the special court trying 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh will deliver his judgment.
The Bharatiya Janata Party appeared to cede ground in Uttar Pradesh where Samajwadi Party was leading on six of the 11 Assembly seats where bypolls were held while it was neck and neck with Congress in Gujarat and behind in Rajasthan, exactly four months after it swept the three states in Lok Sabha elections.
A Pakistani court reserved its decision on Monday, on a petition filed by authorities to challenge an anti-terrorism court's order rejecting a plea to declare Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as fugitives. A Rawalpindi-based bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justices Rauf Ahmed Sheikh and Hasan Raza Pasha reserved its decision after hearing arguments by the counsel for the Federal Investigation Agency, which had filed the petition on April 10.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks has adjourned proceedings till May 8, apparently in anticipation of an Indian court's verdict against Ajmal Kasab on May 3.
Tukaram Omble was the biggest hero of 26/11. He was responsible for the capture of Ajmal Kasab, that helped confirm Pakistan's role in the attacks.
Lashker-e-Tayiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who is facing trial with six others for his alleged involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, has filed a petition in Pakistan's Supreme Court, asking it to bar the prosecution from using Ajmal Amir Kasab's confessional statement against him. The petition was filed by Lakhvi's counsel in the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It asked the apex court to bar the prosecution from using Kasab's confession.
In a new twist in the Mumbai terror attack case, Pakistan approached the Interpol on Saturday seeking Red Corner notices for arresting Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari, currently undergoing trial in India.
Sharif questioned the stalled trial in the gruesome attack.
Lone surviving 26/11 perpetrator Ajmal Kasab on Monday disputed the prosecution's submission that he and nine others had arrived in Mumbai on board the Kuber boat, claiming the vessel was found abandoned by the police a month before the terror attacks. "The front page of the station diary shows that this abandoned vessel was recovered by the police on October 27,2008, exactly a month before the terror attacks," Kasab's lawyer K P Pawar argued before Judge M L Tahaliyani.
Lawyer Abbas Kazmi talks about his stint in Bigg Boss.
Lawyers for Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six more accused in the Mumbai attacks case on Saturday demanded at an anti-terror court that Ajmal Kasab be brought from India to Pakistan to face trial with the other suspects.
The special 26/11 trial court terminated Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi, on Monday, observing that he was "not co-operating with it in the interest of justice."
Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists, who attacked Mumbai in November last year, were in constant touch with top Lashkar-e-Tayiba commanders in Pakistan during the strikes and received instructions to kill 'political leaders, foreigners and prominent personalities of India'. This was stated in the six-page chargesheet filed against the seven suspects in custody in Pakistan, including 'mastermind' of the attacks Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Rediff.com brings you an exclusive preview of the Bigg Boss 4's contestants.
'I would not say I am 100 per cent sure. But I would also not rule out the possibility. This is an alternative theory which must be probed into,' says former Maharashtra Inspector General of Police S M Mushrif.
A Pakistani anti-terror court conducting the trial of seven suspects for their involvement in the 26/11 attacks accepted an application from the prosecution for Ajmal Kasab to be declared a fugitive and adjourned the case for a week on Saturday.
The acts of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege in Mumbai, and the other accused in the 26/11 attack amounted to 'waging a war against India', which is punishable by the death penalty or life imprisonment, the prosecution argued in a trial court on Wednesday. "By firing at people indiscriminately in Mumbai, Kasab and the other conspirators wanted to destabilise the government and break political and economic order," said Public Prosecutor Nikam.
The Anti-Terrorism Court also observed that the statement of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai gunman, could not be produced as evidence in the court, as it was not according to the guidelines set in the Article 43 of the country's penal code.
In a rare gesture, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Tuesday attended the trial proceedings in the 26/11 terror attack case along with Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe, in a special court in Mumbai.Patil's visit assumes significance in the wake of the prosecution opening its final arguments against Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, and two Indian nationals Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
The investigation, currently being conducted by the National Investigating Agency, has highlighted the possibility that David Headley -- the American citizen arrested last month in Chicago by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on terror charges -- may have involved a couple of women in his plans.
Arrested terrorist Tahawwur Hussain Rana may have been the one who had arranged for the fake student identification cards carried by Ajmal Kasab and nine other terrorists, who were involved in the Mumbai attacks in 2008, said intelligence sources.
Making it clear that it could not wait further for 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab to file an appeal against the trial court's order sentencing him to death for his role in the 26/11 terror attack, the Bombay high court on Monday said it would proceed with the confirmation of the death sentence from October 11 or October 18. Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the Pakistani terrorist had a threat perception and bringing him to court would be a great risk.
A dispute with Pakistan players over their central contracts is not affecting the team's preparations for the World Cup, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday.
Souces point out that Abdul Al-Hooti could have done more than just providing SIM cards which were used during the Mumbai attack. With evidence against Al-Hooti in the Mumbai attack increasing, the Indian agencies say that apart from interrogating Headley on these lines, they would also be building a case to seek Al-Hooti's extradition from Oman.
Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, lone captured accused in Mumbai terror attack case, laughed in a special court on Wednesday when he was shown his photos taken on November 26 by a photojournalist.
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
A Pakistani court conducting the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the Mumbai terror attack case on Saturday adjourned proceedings till May 22 after the prosecution sought more time to gain access to Ajmal Kasab, who was sentenced to death by an Indian court on Thursday. Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court put off the case for two weeks after the prosecution filed an application.
The Maharashtra government has no immediate plans to shift Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, sentenced to death in the 26/11 attacks case, from the high-security Arthur Road jail to any other prison in the state.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said the verdict against Ajmal Kasab in the Mumbai attacks case is a "clear message" to terror outfits in Pakistan and has proved that India can take strong action against criminals and terrorists.
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