by Harmeet Shah Singh
India's Supreme Court received an appeal challenging the death sentence of the only surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, authorities said Friday.
The plea filed on behalf of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was "under process," Supreme Court registrar Pukhraj R. Bora said.
It was sent in by the authorities of the Mumbai jail where Kasab is being held, Bora said.
No date has yet been set for hearing, he added.
A trial court handed down the death sentence last year for Kasab, a Pakistani, on charges of murder, conspiracy and waging war on India.
Mumbai's High Court upheld his conviction and sentence in February this year.
Convicts on death-row in India reserve the right to challenge the sentencing in the nation's Supreme Court. They can also file a mercy petition with the country's president if the Supreme Court also turns down their plea.
During the November 2008 raids, 10 men attacked Mumbai landmarks, including the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels, the city's Victoria Terminus train station, and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House. More than 160 people died in the three-day coordinated attack.
Kasab was photographed holding an assault weapon during the strikes.
Indian forces killed nine suspects in the attack.
India blamed the siege on the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with al Qaeda.
Authorities said Kasab was trained by the organization, which was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament. The group denied responsibility.
The Mumbai attack derailed a peace process between India and Pakistan for about 15 months.
This year, the two nuclear neighbors nations announced resumption of their fully-fledged dialogue after a series of high-level meetings over the past one year.
India's Supreme Court received an appeal challenging the death sentence of the only surviving gunman from the 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, authorities said Friday.
The plea filed on behalf of Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, was "under process," Supreme Court registrar Pukhraj R. Bora said.
It was sent in by the authorities of the Mumbai jail where Kasab is being held, Bora said.
No date has yet been set for hearing, he added.
A trial court handed down the death sentence last year for Kasab, a Pakistani, on charges of murder, conspiracy and waging war on India.
Mumbai's High Court upheld his conviction and sentence in February this year.
Convicts on death-row in India reserve the right to challenge the sentencing in the nation's Supreme Court. They can also file a mercy petition with the country's president if the Supreme Court also turns down their plea.
During the November 2008 raids, 10 men attacked Mumbai landmarks, including the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels, the city's Victoria Terminus train station, and the Jewish cultural center, Chabad House. More than 160 people died in the three-day coordinated attack.
Kasab was photographed holding an assault weapon during the strikes.
Indian forces killed nine suspects in the attack.
India blamed the siege on the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, a Pakistan-based terror group allied with al Qaeda.
Authorities said Kasab was trained by the organization, which was banned in Pakistan in 2002 after an attack on India's parliament. The group denied responsibility.
The Mumbai attack derailed a peace process between India and Pakistan for about 15 months.
This year, the two nuclear neighbors nations announced resumption of their fully-fledged dialogue after a series of high-level meetings over the past one year.
This week, the foreign ministers of the two countries pledged in New Delhi they will not let talks slide again because of thorny issues that made their countries bitter enemies.
-CNN
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