Indian court upholds death penalty for Mumbai attack gunman

Two judges at the Bombay High Court have dismissed the appeal against the death sentence on the only surviving gunman convicted of the 2008 Mumbai attacks. The court denied the state's appeal against a lower court's decision to acquit two Indian nationals who were accused of providing maps to the ten gunmen involved in the attacks that killed 166 people and injured more than 300. 

Reuters/Danish Siddiqui

Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 23, appeared in court for Sunday’s decision. He had followed the court proceedings via video link, as he had been held in solitary confinement since his arrest for security reasons.

Kasab was found guilty in May of waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts.

He was found to have been one of the two gunmen responsible killing 52 people at Mumbai's main railway station on 26 November 2008, the bloodiest episode in the three-day attacks.

The appeal began in October, and Kasab's legal team asked for a retrial, arguing that his trial lawyer was not given sufficient time to examine the 11,000-page charge sheet before the case began.

Kasab can now take his appeal to the Supreme Court in New Delhi, and as a last resort he can ask India's president for clemency.

India blames the banned Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba for masterminding the attacks.

New Delhi and Islamabad agreed this month to resume dialogue over the points of contention between them.