Kasab appeals for mercy to President

New Delhi, Sept 18 (IBNS) Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, who is the lone surviving gunman in the 26/11 attack in Mumbai and is a death row prisoner, has pleaded for mercy before the President of India, reports said on Tuesday.

Kasab, who was handed down death sentence, has filed the petition through the Arthur Road prison jailor of Mumbai to the President´s office.

The Supreme Court on Aug 29 upheld the death sentence of Kasab pronounced by a trial court in 2010, dismissing his plea for commuting the capital punishment to a life sentence in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai.

Kasab wanted his death sentence pronounced by a trial court to be reversed.

He had appealed to the Bombay High Court first which upheld the trial court order in October last year and now the Supreme Court also upheld the trial court order of May 2010.

The apex court bench comprising of justice Aftab Alam and justice CK Prasad passed the verdict saying "we are left with no option, but to uphold the sentence."

They had earlier reserved the order after hearing the arguments of both the prosecution and defence counsels for more than two-and-a-half months.

Kasab has been lodged in a Mumbai jail since being captured following the Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead and over 300 injured.

He had been convicted and sentenced to death by a trial court court in Mumbai and later by the Bombay High Court in February last year.

Kasab was one of the ten Pakistan-based militants who launched coordinated strikes in vital places of India´s financial capital including two luxury hotels, a hospital, a Jewish centre and a railway station on Nov 26, 2008.