Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi told reporters later that although the judge had not granted him "adequate" time to prepare for arguments on proposed charges, he would cooperate with the court and abide by the time frame prescribed.

In another development, the court reserved till April 24 its order on the prosecution's plea to hold an inquiry to determine whether Kasab was a juvenile at the time of commission of offence (November 26, 2008).

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had requested for an inquiry to determine Kasab's age, noting that the court had the jurisdiction to decide whether the accused was a juvenile.

Kasab's lawyer argued that section 12 of Maharashtra Juvenile Justice Rules lays down procedure for such an inquiry. He said under the rules, Juvenile Justice Board, which is a competent authority, can conduct the inquiry.

Nikam submitted that Justice Juvenile Act clearly stated that court conducting the trial could order an inquiry to determine age of the accused. "The Act superceded the rules and hence this court had the jurisdiction to order the probe."

Kazmi told mediapersons outside the court that he did not have any documents to prove Kasab's age and it was for the court to order an inquiry to determine his age.

Earlier, the court had rejected Kasab's plea that he was a juvenile and hence it had no jurisdiction to try him.

However, the court had kept the issue open saying that if it came to conclusion during trial that Kasab was a juvenile it would order an inquiry to determine his age.