New Delhi:
The money spent on the legal defense of terrorist Ajmal Kasab - Rs 14.5 lakhs - should be paid to the families of the 18 policemen, who died during the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, said the Supreme Court today.
"I appreciate the Supreme Court's gesture but I will donate the money to a charitable cause," said Smita Salaskar, whose husband Vijay was shot by Kasab outside the city's Cama Hospital.
Kasab was the only terrorist caught alive during India's worst-ever terror attack; the nine other young men who had sailed to Mumbai from Pakistan were killed during their 72-hour siege of the city. 166 people died during the attacks which targeted Mumbai landmarks, a Jewish centre, and a hospital.
In August, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Kasab against the death sentence given to him by the Mumbai High Court. The top court asked the Maharashtra government to pay Rs 11 lakhs to senior lawyer Raju Ramachandran and Rs 3.5 lakhs to Gaurav Agarwal, who assisted him.
Both lawyers had refused the payment.
The ten terrorists had fanned out across Mumbai in pairs. The Bombay High Court had found that Kasab and his partner, Abu Ismail, killed 56 innocent people. Kasab, the judges said, was solely responsible for seven deaths, including three of Maharashtra's senior-most policemen who tried to protect Mumbai during the first few hours of the 26/11 attacks. Hemant Karkare, who was the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief, was shot outside Cama Hospital along with Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.