Home Ministry sends Ajmal Kasab`s mercy plea to President

The mercy plea of Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was processed and sent to the President by the Home Ministry on Tuesday.

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: In an important development, the mercy plea of Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was processed and submitted to the President for decision by the Home Ministry on Tuesday. With the Home Ministry sending its recommendation to the President of India, it is now up to Pranab Mukherjee to take the final decision on the contentious matter. However, the President is not bound by a time period to take a decision on the mercy plea. After the latest development, it can be safely said that one of the last bureaucratic hurdles in the process of Kasab`s hanging for his involvement in 26/11 Mumbai attacks has been cleared and there is no more legal options left before him. Ajmal Kasab had moved a mercy petition before the President after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence in the 26/11 case on. On August 29, the Supreme Court had confirmed the death penalty awarded to the LeT operative by the trial court and later upheld by the Bombay High Court. A bench of justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad had dismissed the 25-year-old`s plea challenging his conviction and death sentence in the 26/11 case. Kasab and nine other Pakistani terrorists had landed in south Mumbai on November 26, 2008 by sea from Karachi and had gone on a shooting spree at various places, killing 166 people, including foreigners. While Kasab was captured alive, the other terrorists were killed by security forces. As of now, there are eleven mercy pleas that are pending before the President.