Bombay High Court to decide Kasab’s fate today

While the trial judge M L Tahaliyani’s final verdict stretched across 1,588 pages,the one likely to be delivered by Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R V More on Monday is expected to be expansive as well. However,even if convicted and sentenced to death,Kasab can appeal in the Supreme Court.

The Prosecution

The prosecution had already fetched a conviction for Kasab,the only gunman put to trial as his nine accomplices were killed. But a greater challenge lay ahead — to get the acquittal of Ansari and Ahmed reversed.

Led by special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam,the team included additional public prosecutor Shahaji Shinde and investigating officer of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch Ramesh Mahale. Nikam argued that Kasab showed no remorse after the brutal attacks that killed 166 people and in his confessions stated he wanted to inspire more fidayeens.

Nikam also said Kasab’s role in the conspiracy hatched on Pakistani soil was clear from the intercepted conversations between him and the handlers in Pakistan. He said Kasab deserved the harshest punishment for the dastardly act.

Nikam argued that Ansari had not only conspired in waging war against the government of India but also cheated the government of Pakistan by obtaining a passport with fake documents. The maps recovered from Kasab’s slain aide Abu Ismail’s possession were prepared by Ansari and handed over to Ahmed in Nepal who passed them on to the LeT.

The Defence

The HC appointed a team of advocates Amin Solkar,Farhana Shah and Satosh Deshpande from the legal aid panel to defend the young gunman. The defence filed many applications for seeking a re-trial,claiming their client was juvenile and then claiming he was mentally unsound.

However,they all came a cropper. While arguing on the quantum of sentence awarded to Kasab,Solkar said life imprisonment would be a harsher punishment as capital punishment would make him a martyr.

He also said the terror attack on CST cannot be disputed but Kasab was not among the two terrorists spotted by witnesses. Even if the prosecution’s story is to be believed,the defence argued Kasab could at best be a “contract killer”,not a conspirator.

In defence of Ansari and Ahmed,advocates R B Mokashi and Ejaz Naqvi respectively said the trial court was right in discarding the prosecution’s evidence against the duo as there was insufficient evidence to prove their role in the conspiracy. “Whatever happens will be the court’s decision and we will accept it,but our hopes are high as we have full faith in the judiciary,” Shah said on Sunday.

THE JUDGES

They visited the terror sites,viewed the CCTV footage from CST and tried to fit in folded maps in the pocket of Ismail’s trousers recovered by the police. “This is like any other appeal. We will also deal with it like any other confirmation. If we think somebody is innocent,will we not take notice? We are a court of law,we have to decide matters dispassionately,” Justice Desai said earlier.