Supreme Court stays Kasab's death sentence

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attack, saying that the due process of law has to be observed.

The court while noting it would like to hear Kasab's plea against the death penalty in the Mumbai attack case at length at the same time agreed to deal with this matter in an expeditious manner.

A special bench of justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad also observed that many people in the country are of the view that the appeal by 24-year-old Kasab should be "rejected" outright and should not be heard at all.
It permitted Kasab to amend his Special Leave Petition and furnish additional grounds to challenge the sentence awarded by the special court and confirmed by the Bombay High Court.
While staying the execution, the court said it would like to hear the matter at length "as the rule of law is supreme in the country and the due process of law has to be observed".
The bench also complimented senior counsel and amicus curie Raju Ramachandran for taking up the 2008 terror attack case and agreeing to assist the court.
"In our country many people are of the view that the appeal should be rejected (outright) and should not be heard at all but we are happy that you have decided to assist the court as amicus," the bench told Ramachandran.
Agreeing with the bench's view, former Solicitor General Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the Maharashtra government, said despite the magnitude of the terror attack, the due process of law has to be maintained and the matter needed to be dealt with expeditiously.
He submitted that all documentation and translation work relating to the trial court and the High Court have been completed and as such the apex court may deal with the appeal in an expeditious manner.
The court agreed that it would deal with the appeal in an expeditious manner.
Kasab along with nine other Pakistani terrorists had landed in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 night from Karachi by sea and laid a 60-hour siege of the metropolis leaving 166 people dead in the carnage.