New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence for Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab. The top court rejected a plea by Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008, to commute the death sentence handed to him by the Bombay High Court, to life imprisonment.

Confirming the death sentence, the top court observed that the primary and foremost offence that Kasab was charged with was waging war against India and “We are left with no option, but to uphold the sentence.” It also observed that it was, “Crystal clear that the conspiracy was hatched by Pakistanis.”

A bench of justices Aftab Alam and C K Prasad rejected the 25-year-old Kasab’s contention that he was not given a free and fair trial in the case. The bench observed that the failure of the government to provide him with an advocate at the pre-trial stage did not vitiate trial court proceedings against him. It also held that the confessional statement given by Kasab, which he retracted during trial, was very much voluntary except for a very small portion.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who had been appointed amicus curiae by the Supreme Court to defend Kasab, said after the verdict, “I bow to the verdict of the court. As amicus curiae I was given full opportunity to say all that I could in his defence. Let us take pride in our judicial system which adheres to due process, whoever be the accused and whatever be the crime.”

Mr Ramachandran had argued that Kasab had not been given a fair trial and also that Kasab was not a part of the larger conspiracy for waging war against the nation. On behalf of the Maharashtra government, Gopal Subramanium had argued that Kasab should be hanged as he was a part of the conspiracy to wage war against India and fuel communal tension.

After the verdict he said, “As a prosecutor who argued this case, I can say this was done in a professional manner and in a dispassionate atmosphere. It is a complete victory of due process (of law). India must feel proud that in democracy, we give every accused an opportunity to present his case.”

The Supreme Court today also upheld the Bombay High Court’s acquittal of alleged Indian conspirators Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case. The two were let off by