Pakistani court adjourns Mumbai attacks case for three weeks

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court today adjourned the Mumbai attacks case for three weeks after the prosecution said it was yet to receive Indian court records of the cross-examination of key witnesses by a Pakistani judicial commission.
Prosecution officials told Judge Attiqur Rehman of the anti-terrorism court in Islamabad that the report on the Pakistani commission's visit to India would be presented in court once the government received the Indian court records.
Observing that summons could not be issued to witnesses till the report is submitted, the judge adjourned the case till October 24.
Special Public Prosecutor Chaudhury Mohammed Azhar, a member of the commission that visited Mumbai, told PTI that the prosecution was yet to receive Indian court records of the cross-examination of four witnesses in Mumbai.

"It is the Indian court records of our cross-examination. The records will be part of our report. The Indian court has already submitted them and we are waiting for them to reach here," he said.
"It was an excellent visit from the prosecution's point of view. All the Indian authorities cooperated with us."

In a lighter vein, Azhar said, "You should actually find out from (the Indian) authorities how well we argued our case there."
After the hearing, defence lawyer Riaz Akram Cheema told PTI that the Pakistani panel had raised several objections during the cross-examination of four witnesses in Mumbai.

"The objections related to tampering with the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, and the chief investigation officer and magistrate's statements," he claimed.
He said the defence lawyers had contended that Indian authorities had "deliberately" linked Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi to the Mumbai attacks as "he was a supporter of the Kashmiri people".