Probing 2008 attack: March 12 likely date for commission’s departure

Nine-member commission to record details of Mumbai attack investigations.

RAWALPINDI:

The nine-member judicial commission is now likely to leave for India on March 12, to record the statements of the magistrate and chief investigator of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The federal investigation agency (FIA), on Saturday, submitted a fresh notification by the Federal Interior Ministry after the approval of the law ministry, giving new dates for the departure of the judicial commission for India.

The fresh notification was submitted to the Special Judge Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Shahid Rafique, after removing objections raised by the leading defence counsel Khawaja Haris Sultan, The Express Tribune was told by Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali.

The judicial commission is supposed to cross examine the chief investigator of the Mumbai attacks as well as the magistrate who recorded Ajmal Kasab’s confessional statement. Kasab alleged that he, along with other attackers, was trained and sent by Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi among others to carry out terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

The commission comprising of two prosecutors, five defence lawyers, on FIA official as coordinator and one record keeper of the trial court, is also delegated to record the statements of the investigators and the doctors who carried out postmortems and medical legal reports of the injured in the Mumbai attacks.

The Indian authorities have already announced their team for the commission. Mumbai Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S S Shinda was nominated as the team’s head by the Mumbai High Court chief justice.

Meanwhile the trial court here, carrying out the trial of seven men including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, put off the hearing till February 25.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2012.