Pak judicial commission's visit hinges on court's decision

Islamabad: The Pakistani judicial commission on Mumbai attacks is unlikely to visit India soon as their travel plans hinge on the decision of an anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven Pakistani suspects, officials said today. The Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court is expected to decide the timing of the commission’s visit at the next hearing of the Mumbai attacks case on 4 February, a court official, who did not wish to be named, said. The commission is scheduled to visit India to interview key officials linked to the investigation of the Mumbai attacks. Khwaja Haris Ahmed, the counsel for the main accused, Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, filed an application at the last hearing on 28 January that raised several questions about the constitution of the commission by the Pakistan government. [caption id=“attachment_198188” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Prosecutors have said the commission’s visit to India is necessary to take the trial forward. AFP Photo”] [/caption] Sources said it was unlikely that the commission could go to India till Ahmed’s application is disposed off by the court. Ahmed had also sought details of the documents that the court intends to send with the commission to India. “The court will take up the matter on 4 February and it is likely that the commission may not leave for India during 3-6 February as was recently stated by Interior Minister Rehman Malik,” the court official said. Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) prosecutor handling the Mumbai case, had told a section of the media today that the commission could travel to India between 4 and 10 February. However, sources said a final date for the commission’s visit would depend on the outcome of the hearing by the anti-terrorism court on 4 February. Ali could not be reached for his comments. Khwaja Haris Ahmed agreed to represent Lakhvi after his father, Khwaja Sultan, the main defence lawyer, died recently. Ahmed said that though India and Pakistan had an arrangement dating back to 1960 for the recording of statements in each other’s territory, he had raised questions about the manner in which the judicial commission had been constituted. The FIA has charged seven suspects, including Lakhvi, for planning, financing and executing the attacks that killed 166 people in November 2008. However, their trial has stalled over various technical issues for the past year. Prosecutors have said the commission’s visit to India is necessary to take the trial forward. India recently informed Pakistan that the commission could visit Mumbai during the first half of February. Interior Minister Malik subsequently announced that the panel, which includes two prosecutors, a director from the FIA and defence lawyers, would visit India during 3-6 February. In India, the commission will interview the magistrate who recorded the confession of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker, the police officer who led the investigation and two doctors who conducted the autopsies of the terrorists and victims. Pakistan had wanted to question Kasab but he was not included in the list of witnesses that the commission could question. PTI