Maharashtra home department rejects Kasab's mercy plea

Ajmal Kasab's mercy petition, addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee, has been rejected by Maharashtra's home ministry, days after the lone surviving perpetrator of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks set in motion the last option available to save his life.

"The home ministry has rejected Kasab's petition and has forwarded it to the Chief Minister's Office," sources in the home department told PTI.

Under the rules, the chief minister's office would now forward the mercy plea to the Union home ministry, which in turn would send it to the Rashtrapati Bhavan with its recommendation.

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."