“We are constrained to hold that the death penalty is the only sentence that can be given in the circumstances of the case,” the apex court bench of Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad said.

The court rejected Qasab’s contention that the Mumbai terror attack was a war against the government of India and not against the Indian state or its people. The court said the government of India was only the elected organ of the state and the repository of the sovereign powers.