Judge tells media not to link Kasab with opinions of lawyers

Mumbai, May 19 (PTI) Special Judge M L Tahaliyani,
hearing the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trial, Tuesday asked
the media not to link personal views on capital punishment
expressed by the Public Prosecutor and the defence lawyer with
the prime accused in the case Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab.

Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam and defence lawyer Abbas
Kazmi, had given their views on capital punishment in general
terms during a course of an interactive session with PTI
journalists.

While Nikam had favoured capital punishment to convicts
in serious crimes, Kazmi was against death penalty and said
that punishment should be reformative.

However, a section of the media had linked their views to
Kasab, prompting the judge to caution reporters against such
practice as the trial was still on.

The judge said that both prosecutor and defence lawyer
had offered their personal views on the awarding capital
punishment and this had no bearing in the ongoing trial.

"Linking their views to Kasab would not be correct,"
Tahaliyani said. PTI