The court while noting it would like to hear Kasab's plea against the death penalty in the Mumbai attack case at length at the same time agreed to deal with this matter in an expeditious manner.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of the death penalty awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, which was upheld by the Bombay High Court, on the grounds that the “due process of law” has to be followed.
Hearing Kasab’s plea against the capital punishment awarded to him by a trial court and upheld by the Bombay HC in February, a bench comprising Justice Aftab Alam and Justice CK Prasad said the norms of natural justice have to complied with. They said the court will examine his appeal in length to follow the due process of law.
“Though we may not have a perfect legal system, God knows we will do our best to maintain rule of law. At times we have to suffer. That is the price we have to pay for maintaining the supremacy of law,” the bench observed.
While agreeing to deal with the appeal expeditiously, the bench also permitted Kasab's lawyer, Raju Ramachandran, to amend the lawsuit sent from the Arthur Road jail and furnish additional grounds to challenge the death sentence.
Responding to the public outcry against keeping alive the lone surviving gunman of the 26/11 attack, instead of making him march to the gallows, the judges said: “In our country, many people are of the view that the appeal should be rejected and should not be heard at all. But, we are happy that you [Ramachandran] have decided to assist the court as amicus."
They also complimented Ramachandran for assisting the court in taking a decision on the petition by Kasab, often dubbed as the “killing machine” and a “merciless killer”.
Former solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam, who appeared for the state government, concurred that despite the magnitude of the attack, the due process of law has to be observed and the matter has to be dealt with expeditiously.
The SC's judgment comes within days of another ruling which stated that a death sentence is legitimate in terrorism-related cases.
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