By Quaid Najmi
Mumbai, Feb 21 (IANS) Confirming the death penalty awarded to Pakistani terrorist Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab for his role in the 26/11 attack, the Bombay High Court observed that he is "a threat to society" and committed murders of innocents in "an extremely brutal, grotesque, diabolical, revolting or dastardly manner", exhibiting "extreme perversity and depravity."
In their detailed, well-reasoned judgement running into 1,215-pages upholding the verdict of Special Judge M. L. Tahaliyani, Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R.V. More said: "This is, indeed, a rarest of rare cases involving uncommon and unprecedented crime for which sentence of life imprisonment is inadequate. We feel that we would never be as confident as we are today in confirming the death sentence. We are of the opinion that the death sentence must be confirmed."
The bench noted that all the murders, displaying extreme "brutality and cruelty" were committed after previous planning.
"The crime is enormous in proportion. The magnitude of the attack is indicative of the pre-planning. The attack unleashed such a wave of terror that several victims were not even ready to come forward and depose in the court," the judges noted with concern.
They said that Kasab never showed any remorse or repentance for what he had done, but loudly proclaimed that he wanted to be a role model for others, as was evident from his confessional statement on Nov. 27, 2008, before a woman magistrate.
They said that the murder of innocent women, children, aged people and policemen with the use of AK-47s and bombs were committed in a manner "so as to arouse the extreme indignation of the community".
Referring to Kasab's "perverse and depraved nature", the judges noted that it was he who suggested that the navigator of the fishing vessel Kuber, Amarchand Solanki, should be killed.
Kasab's associates Shoaib and Nazir caught hold of Solanki's legs, while he (Kasab) caught hold of his hair and slit his throat, as revealed in the autopsy reports and Kasab's confessional statement. "This was a cold-blooded murder," the judges remarked.
They said that "Kasab is individually responsible for seven murders".
"He has committed more than 66 murders in furtherance of common intention of himself and deceased A1-Abu Ismail. He has committed rest of the murders by abetting them by conspiracy," the division bench added.
Citing the testimony of a witness at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) attack by Kasah and his associate, the judges further said: "He was in a joyous mood due to the result of his firing and continued to fire at people for 15 to 20 minutes. It is evident that Kasab took perverse pleasure in killing innocent people".
The judges noted from the evidence and witness records that at CST, they found the crowds much less than what they had been shown on a CD. "Kasab was obviously unhappy because they wanted to kill more people. He has, therefore, no value for human lives. He took devious pleasure in killing people".
Referring to Kasab's confessional statement on the Cama Hospital attack, the judges said they entered a building at B.T. Road to avoid police firing, and they realized that it was a hospital because he could hear women screaming and children crying.
They decided that they would go to hospital rooms and kill women and children. They, therefore, tried to open the doors of the rooms, but could not succeed because they were closed from inside.
"This is indicative of Kasab's warped mental attitude. He had no qualms about killing patients admitted in hospital," the judgement said.
The judges dismissed the defence argument that Kasab was misguided and brainwashed by the Lashkar-e-Taiba, especially since he was given a chance to go away by the LeT.
"Therefore, it is impossible to say that he was misguided by LeT; that he did not have a mind of his own or that he was merely used by the handlers as a tool. He is not a misguided person. He knew the consequences of his actions and he wanted to be a part of the conspiracy and voluntarily joined it," the judges said.