The source said the request by Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab had been filed via jail authorities in Mumbai, where he has been held since the attacks, and lodged with the secretary general of the court.

“He filed the appeal through the Arthur Road jail authorities,” the source said, asking not to be named.

Kasab was convicted and sentenced by a trial court in Mumbai and the death sentence was confirmed by the state high court.

India has the death sentence for the “rarest of the rare” criminal offences.