NEW DELHI, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- India's highest judiciary, the Supreme Court, Wednesday upheld the death penalty given to the lone Pakistani terrorist caught alive in 2008 Mumbai massacre and rejected his plea that he was denied a fair trial by a special court.
"In view of the nature of the gravity of his crime and the fact that he participated in waging war against the country, we have no option but to uphold his death penalty," a division bench of Supreme Court, comprising Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad, ruled.
Kasab was handed down the death penalty for waging war against the state and killing inncocent civilians among other charges by the special court in May 2012. He was among 10 Pakistani terrorists who entered Mumbai through sea route and carried out the massacre.
Kasab had first appealed against his death penalty in the High Court in Mumbai, which rejected his plea and upheld the death penalty for his role in the Mumbai terror attacks which claimed the lives of over 170 people, including six foreign nationals, and injured 300 others.
Indian prosecutor Gopal Subramaniam hailed the apex court's verdict as "a complete victory of the due processes of law". "It was a case argued in a completely professional and dispassionate manner," he told the media in the national capital.
Kasab can now appeal for clemency to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee who has the power to commute his death sentence into life in prison.
The Mumbai attacks were 11 coordinated shooting and bombing attacks across the Indian financial capital by Pakistani militants who had allegedly received reconnaissance assistance before the attacks. The terror attacks drew widespread global comdemnation.
