Pak court adjourns trial of 7 Mumbai suspects till Jan 22

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Jan 8 (PTI) The trial of seven Pakistani
suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks
in India was Saturday adjourned for a fortnight after the
prosecution sought more time to withdraw a petition filed in a
higher court to declare Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari who are
charged in the case as fugitives.
Prosecution lawyers informed Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed of
the Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court that they needed
more time to withdraw the petition as it was yet to be listed
by the Lahore High Court.
The judge accepted the request and adjourned the case
till January 22.
Seven suspects, including Lashker-e-Taiba commander
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, have been charged with planning,
facilitating and financing the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
Legal experts have contended that the issue of the
petition in the Lahore High Court must be settled before
proceedings in the anti-terrorism court can move forward.
The lawyers of the Federal Investigation Agency had
approached the Lahore High Court last year after the
anti-terrorism court rejected a petition for Kasab and Ansari
to be declared proclaimed offenders or fugitives.
Pakistani national Kasab, the lone surviving attacker,
was sentenced to death by a court in Mumbai for his role in
the attacks on India's financial hub that killed 166 people in
November 2008.
Ansari, an Indian national, was acquitted by the same
court but he continues to be in custody in connection with
other cases.
In another development, defence lawyer Shahbaz Rajput
today submitted testimonials on the authenticity of his law
degree in response to allegations by prosecutors that he
possessed a fake degree and should be barred from appearing in
court.
At the last hearing, the prosecution team produced a
FIR filed against Rajput by officials of the Rawalpindi Bar
Association that alleged he possessed a fake law degree.
Rajput told PTI that he had submitted documents and
testimonials on the authenticity of his degree.
He had earlier described the prosecution’s move as a
bid to "pressurise" him to stop acting as counsel for the
suspects accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks. PTI