Mumbai attacks probe: Pakistan members on judicial panel notified

Pakistan issues notification for appointment of members to preside over the judicial commission in Mumbai.

LAHORE:

Three years after the siege that rocked Mumbai, the probe to investigate the attacks has seen sluggish progress due to a lack of cooperation between Pakistan and India. The government of Pakistan has now issued a gazette notification for the appointment of members to preside over the judicial commission in Mumbai, The Express Tribune has learnt.

As per the order of the Special Judge of Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC-I) Rawalpindi, the members will work together with Indian authorities to record statements of witnesses and interrogate Ajmal Kasab – the lone gunman caught alive after the attack.

The Pakistani team headed to Mumbai includes FIA’s Special Investigation Group (SIG) chief Khalid Qureshi, M Azhar Chaudhry and FIA Senior Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulifqar. Other members of the team include the defence counsels of the accused imprisoned and prosecuted in Pakistan.

The witnesses include doctors who conducted autopsies of the attackers as well as the victims, the chief metropolitan magistrate who recorded the confessional statement of Kasab, the chief investigation officer (head of the joint investigation team) who had approved the recovery memos for articles including those belonging to the terrorists, sources familiar with the matter revealed.

All expenses of defense counsels will be covered by the Pakistani government and the arrangements of their visas will also be processed by the government, a senior officer in the interior ministry said.

Indian authorities also sent the name of their Judicial Officers (JO) of a Judicial Commission to work with Pakistani authorities in the last week of November, 2011. The officials of both countries will cooperate with each other for the first time, during which they will interrogate Kasab and record the statements and evidences of Prosecution Witnesses in India.

An anti-terrorism court hearing the Mumbai attack case was informed on November 29 that the chief justice of the Mumbai High Court has nominated a magistrate who will preside over the joint judicial commission.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar informed ATC Judge Shahid Rafique that chief metropolitan magistrate SS Shinde would chair the proceedings on behalf of ATC Rawalpindi and interact with commission members for recording statements of witnesses.

The public prosecutor had also requested the court to direct the defence counsels to provide passports and other necessary documents to the interior ministry for arranging their Indian visas.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 9^th, 2011.