Criminal appeal nos. 1899-1900 of 2011
Supreme Court of India
BENCH: Hon’ble Aftab Alam J., Hon’ble Chandramauli Kr. Prasad J.
DATE OF JUDGEMENT: 29 August 2012
RELEVANT SECTIONS:
- Section 121 of IPC (Waging, or attempting to wage war, or abetting waging of war, against the Government of India)
- Section 121A of IPC (Conspiracy to commit offences punishable by section 121)
- Section 122 of IPC (Collecting arms, etc., to wage war against the Government of India)
- Section 120B of IPC (Punishment of criminal conspiracy)
- Section 302 of IPC (Punishment for murder)
- Section 34 of IPC (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention)
- Section 109 of IPC (Punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment)
- Section 16 of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (Punishment for terrorist attack)
- Section 164 of CrPC (Recording of confessions and statements)
BACK HISTORY
A team of ten terrorists including Kasab landed over the Mumbai city’s shores via the Arabian sea by hijacking a boat Kuber. The attack began on 26th November, 2008 at about 9:15 PM. The major attacks took place at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Oberoi Trident, Hotel Taj, Leopold cafe, Cama hospital, and the Nariman House Jewish community centre with brutal firing and bomb blasts. At about 1:30 am of November 27, at Vinoli Chaupati, accused Kasab and Abu Ismail were caught by police and Abu Ismail got dead in heavy police firing. Accused Kasab was arrested there and admitted to the Nair Hospital. The attack was ended at about 9:00 AM of November 29, when the last of the attackers were killed by Indian security forces at Hotel Taj of Mumbai.
During the whole attack, 166 people were killed which included 18 policemen and other security personnel, 238 people were grievously injured and property loss of about 150 crores. Accused Kasab was the single surviving terrorist in the attack. The confessional statement of accused was recorded under section 164 of CrPC, in which he confessed that he was trained in Pakistan and mentioned the conspiracy, planning and preparation for the attack and its actual execution.
FORENSIC REPORT
Daniel Jackson, Electronic engineer and Forensic expert, examined satellite phones and GPS devices which were recovered from Taj hotel and other sites of terrorist violence with the help of computer software (GARMIN). One of the GPS devices showed the list of waypoints between Karachi (ocean of gulf of Karachi) and Mumbai were saved on that device.
To make the maps more explicit, the second examination was conducted by Sandeep Shivangi. He plotted four waypoints on map which showed the route from south of Pakistan to south Mumbai and waypoints on another map showing the route from Gujarat to South Mumbai.
Rajendra Mavle, forensic expert, FSL, conducted the chemical examination of foam pieces which were recovered from the Kuber, the terrace the Cama Hospital, the bags that were found on CST and the two bags containing exploded IEDs found near Taj Hotel. He concluded in the report that the thermal characteristics of all the pieces were identical and the source of all-foam pieces was the same.
The Ballistic examination of the AK-47 rifle along with a magazine which was recovered from the damaged Qualis police vehicle and AK-47 bullets recovered from some of the dead bodies were conducted. The ballistic report established that six persons were hit by shots from AK-47 rifle held by the accused Ajmal Kasab.
The DNA profiling was carried out of the stains of saliva, sweat and other bodily secretions found on the various articles such as blankets, shawls and other items of clothing which were recovered from Kuber. According to the report the DNA of the accused Ajmal Kasab matched with the DNA profile from the sweat stains found on one of the clothing articles.
JUDGEMENT
Court framed charges against accused Ajmal Kasab for committing offences punishable under section 16 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 121, 121A, 122, 120B, 302, 34,109 of IPC which included crime of waging war against the Government of India.
Supreme court awarded death sentence to the accused Ajmal Kasab for waging war against Government of India by the terrorist attack on November 26, 2008, and the punishment was executed on November 21, 2012, by hanging him till death at Yerawada Jail, Pune.