Pakistan blames India for delay in prosecution of Lakhvi's case

The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) on Friday blamed India for unwanted delay in the prosecution of Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi saying inordinate delay in extending cooperation by India complicated the case and weakened the prosecution.

"Inordinate delay in extending cooperation by India complicated the case and weakened the prosecution. We respect the judicial process and are confident that it would serve the interest of justice," said Pakistan MoFA spokesperson Tasneem Aslam.

"Case of Mumbai attack suspects is sub-judice. It would not be proper to cast aspersions on Pakistan's commitment to countering terrorism at a time when Pakistan has entered a critical stage of defeating the menace of terrorism," she added.

Earlier in the day, Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad TCA Raghavan met Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary to register strong concerns over the country's decision to release Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.

On Thursday, the Lahore High Court struck down the detention order of Lakhvi and ordered his release.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Lakhvi challenging his fourth one-month detention ordered by the Okara DCO on March 14

The court ordered his release based on the lack of reliability of the sensitive information provided and also directed the accused to pay 20 lakh rupees in surety bonds to Adiala jail.

Lakhvi is among seven people charged with planning and carrying out the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.