26/11 Mumbai attacks: MHA recommends rejection of Ajmal Kasab's mercy plea

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended that the President should reject the mercy plea of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack convit Ajmal Kasab. The recommendation has been made while forwarding Kasab's plea to President Pranab Mukherjee for reference.

In September, Maharashtra's Home Ministry had also rejected the petition. Under the rules, the Chief Minister's Office had then forwarded the mercy plea to the Union Home Ministry.

There has been a demand from several quarters for speedy implementation of the apex court order, upholding Kasab's death sentence. Shiv Sena had recently demanded that President Pranab Mukherjee "summarily dismiss" Kasab's mercy petition.

Kasab had moved his plea earlier this month, over a fortnight after the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.

The nearly four-year legal battle launched by the 25-year-old had ended on August 29 when the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and death sentence in the 26/11 attacks case, saying he killed without "the slightest twinge of conscience."