Lakhvi’s lawyer to oppose Pak panel’s second visit to India

Even as India has conveyed its intention to positively consider Pakistan's request to allow the 26/11 judicial commission to visit India for the second time, the lawyer for Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi said on Monday that he would "definitely oppose in court" any plea by the Pakistan government to send the judicial commission again.

"What happened (during the commission's visit) last time was illegal and arbitrary, something that fell foul of all laws, including, I am sure, Indian criminal law. It was the stupidest thing to make us travel to Mumbai and then tell us that we will not be allowed to cross-examine any of the four witnesses in the case. I feel there is no need for any new visit as it would serve no purpose," advocate Khwaja Haris Ahmed, who is representing Lakhvi before the Pakistan anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi, told The Indian Express over phone.

Khwaja, a former advocate general of Pakistan Punjab, was part of the eight-member Pakistan panel when it visited India in March. The panel was not allowed to cross-examine the four witnesses, including the magistrate who had recorded the confessional statement of the lone surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, and the 26/11 terror attacks case investigating officer.

The issue of a fresh visit by the Pakistan judicial commission was raised by Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik during a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday on the sidelines of the NAM Summit in Tehran.

On July 17, the Rawalpindi court had declared all the findings of the judicial commission "illegal" and said the report of the commission could not be made part of the evidence against the seven accused, including Lakhvi, because they were not allowed to cross-examine the four witnesses in Mumbai.

On Monday, the External Affairs Ministry had said while the executive branch had indicated it had taken a "positive view" of the request, the final decision would be conveyed to Pakistan only after internal consultations are over. "The Home Ministry is consulting judicial authorities in this and we will be in a position to reply once we get a response from the judicial authorities," the MEA spokesperson said.

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