Kasab yet unaware of Supreme Court verdict

Even though a day has passed since the Supreme Court upheld Ajmal Kasab's death sentence, the jailed Pakistani terrorist remains unaware of his fate, a prison official said Thursday.

"We think it is not advisable to communicate the Supreme Court verdict to Kasab yet. We have not received the hard copy of the judgment papers and hence the decision," A.C. Rane, superintendent of high-security Arthur Road Jail here, told IANS.

Rane said it was important that the verdict was served to Kasab in an appropriate manner by the jail authorities.  "As jail officials, it is our responsibility to serve him the verdict and tell him about his fate. What is the point in telling him now when we don't even have the copy of the verdict?" he said.

Rane said once he received the copy of the verdict, he would hand it over to Kasab and also take his signature on the receipt.  "However, I cannot be sure when the copy will arrive," he said.

The Supreme Court Wednesday upheld the death sentence of Kasab, the only Pakistani terrorist caught alive after the 26/11 Mumbai strike that claimed 166 lives, saying he never showed any remorse.

Kasab, one of the 10 Pakistanis who sneaked into Mumbai on the night of Nov 26, 2008, for a terror strike in the city that ended on Nov 29 afternoon, had moved the apex court challenging the death sentence awarded to him by a trial court, which was later confirmed by the Bombay High Court.

The apex court rejected Kasab's contention that the terror attack was a war against the government of India and not against people.