26/11 case: Pak court adjourns trial of suspects till April 16

Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Apr 9 (PTI) An anti-terrorism court on
Saturday adjourned the trial of LeT's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and
six other suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai
attacks till April 16 after hearing arguments on an
application filed by defence lawyers to expedite the
proceedings.
The application, filed in February, seeks to counter the
prosecution's efforts to make Ajmal Kasab, the lone
surviving attacker involved in the 2008 Mumbai strikes, and
terror suspect Fahim Ansari part of the trial in Pakistan.
Both Kasab and Ansari are currently in custody in India.
During Saturday's proceedings, Judge Rana Nisar Ahmed of
the Rawalpindi-based court heard arguments by lawyers
defending the seven suspects.
The judge is conducting the proceedings behind closed
doors at the heavily-guarded Adiala Jail for security reasons.
Prosecution lawyer Chaudhry Zulfiqar, who appeared for
the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), sought an adjournment,
saying another prosecutor, Chaudhry Azhar, would present
arguments on the matter at the next hearing.
The judge then adjourned the case till April 16.
The application filed by the defence lawyers has
sought the start of trial proceedings as soon as possible and
recording of evidence against the accused.
The application was filed under Section 403 of the Code
of Criminal Procedure and Article 13 of the Constitution,
which state that no person can be prosecuted or punished for
the same offence more than once, defence lawyer Shahbaz Rajput
told PTI.
The defence lawyers argued that Kasab had already been
convicted and sentenced to death by an Indian court for his
role in the Mumbai attacks.
The same Indian court had acquitted Ansari, they have
told the court.
Despite the acquittal, Ansari continues to be in
custody in connection with other cases.
The defence lawyers have contended that the prosecution
wants to produce witnesses like Kasab and Ansari to whom it
has no access and this has resulted in "inordinate and
indefinite" delays in the proceedings in Pakistan.
"The prosecution's efforts to declare Kasab and Ansari
as fugitives makes no sense as they are not wilfully avoiding
the Pakistani court," Rajput said.
"We have argued that the case of Kasab and Ansari
should be separated from that of the seven accused so that the
proceedings can get underway," he said.
"Even if the prosecution manages to bring Kasab and
Ansari to Pakistan, Section 403 of the Code of Criminal
Procedure and Article 13 of the Constitution will apply as
they have already been tried," he added.
The trial of the seven Pakistani suspects has been
marred by repeated delays over technical matters.
The judge has been changed thrice and only one of more
than 160 prosecution witnesses has testified so far.