AFP, MUMBAI: Two Indian judges are Monday to give their decision in the appeal of the sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks against his conviction and death sentence, lawyers said.
Prosecution and defence lawyers said the judgement in the case of Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was due to be handed down from 11:00 am local time (0530 GMT) at the Bombay High Court.
Kasab, now 23, was convicted and sentenced to death last May for his part in the wave of attacks on India's financial capital by 10 Islamist militants which killed 166 people and injured more than 300 others.
State prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told AFP on Sunday that he was "very confident" that the death sentence would be upheld.
One of Kasab's lawyers, Farhana Shah, added: "Inshallah (God willing), we hope for the best but it's up to the discretion of the honourable court."
Kasab was found guilty of a string of offences including waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorist acts after a high-profile trial at a maximum security prison court in Mumbai.
The appeal, which began last October, saw Kasab's legal team ask for a retrial, arguing that his trial lawyer was not given sufficient time to wade through the 11,000-page charge sheet before the case began.
They also claimed that prosecution evidence and witnesses were manipulated.
Under Indian law, death sentence cases have to be referred to the local state high court. The judges can uphold the sentence, reduce it, order a retrial or overturn the conviction.
If a death sentence is upheld in the high court, there is a further right of appeal to the Supreme Court in New Delhi and as a last resort to India's president for clemency.
A decision is also expected on Monday in the state's appeal against the acquittal of two Indian nationals who were accused of providing hand-drawn maps of potential targets to the gunmen.
The trial judge rejected the prosecution evidence against them as flimsy.
After the case, the men's defence teams said a Pakistani-American man, David Coleman Headley, conducted the reconnaissance. He was arrested in 2009 and has confessed to scouting out targets.
Kasab has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest in a shoot-out with police just hours after the attacks began. He has not attended the appeal for security reasons but has been able to follow proceedings via video link.
He was found to have been one of the two gunmen responsible for the bloodiest episode in the three-day attacks, when 52 people were killed at Mumbai's main railway station on November 26, 2008.
Three luxury hotels, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre were also attacked.
India blames the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba for masterminding the attacks, which led to the suspension of fragile peace talks between the two neighbours and rivals.
New Delhi and Islamabad only this month agreed to resume dialogue.
