26/11 trial: Pak court reserves decision on Lakhvi plea

Islamabad: A Pakistani court conducting the Mumbai attacks trial today reserved to July 17 its decision on LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi’s application challenging the report of a judicial panel that probed the 2008 strikes, besides rejecting the bail plea of one of the seven suspects. Chaudhry Habib-ur-Rehman, the judge of the Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court no. 1, reserved his judgement after hearing the arguments of defence and prosecution lawyers during the proceedings held behind closed doors at Adiala Jail. The judge will announce his decision on July 17, sources told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_377817” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 2008 attacks, had claimed in his application that the report of the Pakistani judicial commission should not be made part of the case as it has “no legal value”. Lakhvi’s counsel Khwaja Haris Ahmed objected to the agreement between India and Pakistan on the judicial commission’s visit to Mumbai as it did not allow the cross-examination of witnesses. “The commission was not allowed to cross-examine witnesses, making the whole exercise useless. The report has no legal value and therefore it should be ignored and not made part of the case,” Ahmed said. Chief prosecutor Chaudhry Zulifqar Ali argued that the court could send the commission to India again after ensuring that it would be allowed to cross-examine witnesses. PTI