Islamabad: A Pakistani anti-terror court
conducting the trial of seven suspects for their involvement
in the 26/11 attacks on Saturday accepted an application from the
prosecution for Ajmal Kasab to be declared a fugitive and
adjourned the case for a week.
The Federal Investigation Agency, which probed
Pakistani links to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, submitted an
application in the anti-terrorism court of Judge Malik
Muhammad Akram Awan asking for Kasab to be declared a
"proclaimed offender" or a fugitive.
The court admitted the application and scheduled the
next hearing for March 20, when it will hear arguments on the
plea by the prosecution and defence lawyers.
"The application was taken up first as it was a
procedural matter," Shahbaz Rajput, a lawyer representing some
of the accused, told PTI.
Sources said several witnesses were scheduled to
testify during today`s hearing but could not do so as the
court took up the FIA`s application.
The FIA`s plea had become necessary as a bench of the
Lahore High Court had ruled earlier this week that Kasab`s
trial could not be separated from that of the seven accused
Lashker-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi,
Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz,
Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum.
In a judgement given on Tuesday, the Rawalpindi-based
bench of the Lahore High Court had also ruled that Kasab`s
confessional statement to Indian authorities could not be used
in Pakistani courts.
Legal experts said this could significantly affect the
Pakistani prosecution team`s case as Kasab`s statement was a
crucial part of it.
Sources said the defence lawyers were planning to
challenge the FIA`s move to get Kasab declared a fugitive as
he was "not willingly avoiding an appearance in a Pakistani
court".
The defence lawyers plan to contend that Kasab is in
the custody of Indian authorities and is thus not a fugitive
from law. The seven accused have been booked under the Anti-
Terrorism Act, Pakistan Penal Code and a cyber crimes law.
They have been accused of training and providing
financial support, accommodation, equipment and communications
gear to the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008
and killed nearly 180 people.
The trial in the anti-terrorism court has been mired
by controversies and delays since last year.
The judge was changed twice and Lakhvi`s counsel has
filed at least seven petitions seeking his acquittal,
challenging the case prepared by the prosecution team and
asking for the transfer of the trial from Rawalpindi to
Lahore.
Special public prosecutor Malik Rab Nawaz Noon has
even said the defence lawyers are causing "unnecessary
hindrances" by filing such petitions.
PTI
