The Lahore high court has directed the anti-terrorism court judge conducting the trial of seven Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) activists accused of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks to indict them only after recording their objections and removing their grievances.
The high court was hearing a petition from Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the chief operational commander of the LeT.
Lakhvi, in his plea, had alleged that the special judge of the anti-terrorism court had on October 10 tried to indict the accused in the absence of defence lawyers and without providing them certified copies of the incriminating documents. He had sought to make the judge a respondent to the petition.
Lakhvi had contended that the trial court could not frame charges until investigators submitted a complete charge-sheet under section 173 of Pakistan’s criminal procedure code. He had also alleged that the trial court judge had tried to indict them on the directive of interior minister Rehman Malik.
The petition maintained that all incriminating evidence (against Lakhvi), including the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, were in English, a language he did not understand.
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