For Kasab, it's now a question of when

With the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence for Pakistani terrorist Kasab, lawyers say he is now left with little legal recourse.

Top lawyers opine that the best the convict can hope for now is a delay in the execution of the sentence. There is only a very slight possibility that Kasab could escape the gallows.

"Kasab has a very narrow window to escape the gallows, the reason being that three courts, from the trial court to the Supreme Court, have all given identical judgments of his guilt as also the adequacy of the sentence," says Majid Memon, a well known criminal lawyer.

"Under the Constitution of India, his last resort would be a mercy petition which may take some time," he says.

Senior advocate Aman Lekhi says Kasab could exercise some legal options which could delay the execution of the sentence.