The prosecution asking for an inquiry before the start of the trial is considered significant in legal circles as it does want the accused to plead later that the trial had been vitiated as he was a juvenile. The court has already rejected Kasab's plea that he was a juvenile at the time of commission of offence (November 26, 2008) when he and others had struck terror in Mumbai by firing at people, killing 166, in important public places.

However, judge M L Tahilyani had kept the issue open and observed that at any time during trial if the court feels that the age of the accused be determined it may order an inquiry. Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi said he had no objection to the court holding an inquiry to determine the age of the accused. The inquiry would include scientific tests, he said. The judge heard Nikam and Kazmi on the issue and reserved the order until tomorrow. Nikam pleaded he should be allowed to lead evidence in the inquiry. There was sufficient evidence to prove that Kasab was not a juvenile, he said.

Kasab seeks Urdu chargesheet again

Prime accused in Mumbai terror attack case Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab on Tuesday asked for an Urdu translation of the 11,000-page chargesheet in order to build up his defence, but the prosecution strongly opposed his plea, saying he was adopting "delay tactics" to prolong the trial. Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi also pleaded for four weeks' time to reply to prosecution on charges proposed to be framed against him. Judge M L Tahilyani has reserved order until tomorrow on Kasab's plea for Urdu translation of chargesheet and one-month adjournment to reply to prosecution's proposed charges.

Kazmi asked for an Urdu translation of the chargesheet, saying the accused could not understand any other language and therefore would not be in a position to give instructions to him regarding his defence in the trial. Opposing Kasab's plea, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said there was no provision in law to provide the chargesheet in the language understood by the accused. The official language of the court, decided by the Government of Maharashtra through a circular on July 23, 1998, was Marathi.

Copies of the chargesheet in English and Marathi were already provided to the accused, he said. This is the second time Kasab pleading for an Urdu translation of the chargesheet.

Earlier, he made a similar request to a magistrate (before whom he was produced for remand) but the court had rejected his plea. In another development, co-accused Sabaudin Ahmed filed an application, alleging that Crime Branch police had used third degree methods to "torture" him during his arrest earlier. The application was filed by his lawyer Ejaz Naqvi who could not satisfy the court's query as to why he was making a grievance after a considerable lapse of time particularly when the accused had the opportunity earlier to tell the court.

Sabauddin's application also alleged that FBI slueths, James and Mike, had interrogated him when he was in the custody of Crime Branch. The accused demanded that the FBI officers be arrested as they had no authority to grill him.

Judge M L Tahilyani asked Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale to file a reply to these allegations. In another application, Sabauddin urged for return of his belongings at the time of his arrest. The court has asked the investigating officer to file a reply on this plea also.

Meanwhile, the lawyers appeared for co-accused Faheem Ansari, Saba Qureshi and Nilesh Jadhav, today sought time to reply to prosecution's proposed charges. The duo submitted that they had not yet seen the chargesheet. The court would decide their plea tomorrow. Kasab is facing charges of gunning down 166 perons along with nine others on November 26 last year following a conspiracy hatched by LeT in Pakistan. Faheem and Sabauddin are charged with providing maps of target locations to the conspirators. Kasab was captured alive, while others were killed by armed forces in a pitched battle.