Mohammed Ajmal Amir asked for an Urdu translation of the 11,000-page chargesheet in order to build up his defence,
Prime accused in Mumbai terror attack case Mohammed Ajmal Amir aka Kasab on Tuesday asked for an Urdu translation of the 11,000-page chargesheet in order to build up his defence, but the prosecution strongly opposed his plea, saying he was adopting "delay tactics" to prolong the trial.
Ajmal's lawyer Abbas Kazmi also pleaded for four weeks' time to reply to prosecution on charges proposed to be framed against him. Judge ML Tahilyani has reserved order until Wednesday on Kasab's plea for Urdu translation of chargesheet and one-month adjournment to reply to prosecution's proposed charges.
Kazmi asked for an Urdu translation of the chargesheet, saying the accused could not understand any other language and therefore would not be in a position to give instructions to him regarding his defence in the trial.
Opposing Ajmal's plea, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said there was no provision in law to provide the chargesheet in the language understood by the accused. The official language of the court, decided by the Government of Maharashtra through a circular on July 23, 1998, was Marathi.
Copies of the chargesheet in English and Marathi were already provided to the accused, he said. This is the second time Ajmal pleading for an Urdu translation of the chargesheet.
Earlier, he made a similar request to a magistrate (before whom he was produced for remand) but the court had rejected his plea.
In another development, co-accused Sabaudin Ahmed filed an application, alleging that Crime Branch police had used third degree methods to "torture" him during his arrest earlier.
The application was filed by his lawyer Ejaz Naqvi who could not satisfy the court's query as to why he was making a grievance after a considerable lapse of time particularly when the accused had the opportunity earlier to tell the court.
Sabauddin's application also alleged that FBI slueths, James and Mike, had interrogated him when he was in the custody of Crime Branch. The accused demanded that the FBI officers be arrested as they had no authority to grill him.
Judge ML Tahilyani asked investigating officer Ramesh Mahale to file a reply to these allegations.
In another application, Sabauddin urged for return of his belongings at the time of his arrest. The court has asked the investigating officer to file a reply on this plea also.
Meanwhile, the lawyers appeared for co-accused Faheem Ansari, Saba Qureshi and Nilesh Jadhav, on Tuesday sought time to reply to prosecution's proposed charges. The duo submitted that they had not yet seen the chargesheet.
The court would decide their plea on Wednesday.
Ajmal is facing charges of gunning down 166 perons along with nine others on November 26 last year following a conspiracy hatched by LeT in Pakistan.
Faheem and Sabauddin are charged with providing maps of target locations to the conspirators. Ajmal was captured alive, while others were killed by armed forces in a pitched battle.
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