Turning down the prosecution’s plea that it would rather not examine the National Security Guard (NSG) commandos who carried out counter-terrorist operations at Hotel Taj Mahal Palace and Nariman House during the 26/11 terror attack, the special sessions court on Friday directed the Mumbai Police Crime Branch to get correct details of two NSG commandos involved in the operations.

The police have been given till October 26 to furnish the details, following which summonses will be issued to the two commandos.

The prosecution had said examining the commandos would be dangerous for society at large as it would expose the NSG’s counter-terrorist techniques.

This would help terrorists in future attacks to combat the NSG, the prosecution had contended.

Special sessions judge M L Tahaliyani observed, “It (the court) cannot be a silent spectator while the prosecution adduces the evidence, and it has to cover all sides. So far the evidence¿ of witnesses from Taj Hotel, Nariman House and Trident-Oberoi Hotels is not sufficient to prove the charge of Section 121 (waging war against the nation) of the Indian Penal Code.”

Rejecting the apprehensions raised by the prosecution in an eight-page reply, the court observed, “The techniques used by the armed forces are shared universally among each other, and they are easily available on the Internet. Moreover, the techniques are not predefined but are adopted as per the topography of the targets and resistance by the attackers.”

Citing the Supreme Court judgment in the 2001 Parliament attack case, the court ruled, “Serious charges of waging war against the Government of India had been framed against all three accused in the case. It is important to get evidence from the NSG as to how they combated the alleged terrorists to prove the resistance they posed.”

... contd.