Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the Pakistani gunman who along with his nine accomplices attacked the city on November 26, 2008, moved an application seeking transfer of his case to an international court.
But on Monday the special court hearing the 26/11 trial rejected the application of the
21-year-old Lashkar-e-Tayyeba suspect.
When Judge M.L. Taheliyani asked Kasab why he wants to transfer the case, he replied: “Mujhe kisi Hindustani court pe bharosa nahi, mera case international court ke pas bhej do. (I don’t have faith in any Indian court, transfer my case to an international court).”
Rejecting his plea, Judge Taheliyani said: “The plea is totally misconceived and mischievous and it needs no judicial order.”
Kasab’s lawyer Abbas Kazmi refused to advance any argument regarding the plea saying he wasn’t aware of the application.
Meanwhile, co-accused Fahim Ahmed Ansari, one of the alleged local facilitators of 26/11 attacks, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking audio-video recording of the proceedings before the special court. He claimed the evidence was not being recorded properly.
The Goregaon resident informed the special court about his plea on Monday, and sought stay on the proceedings till his plea was heard by the HC.
But Judge Taheliyani rejected his plea too.
“This is another attempt to create hurdles in the trial and delay the proceedings when recording of evidence has reached fag end,” the judge said. “Somebody might be instigating the accused and it is quite possible that the applications are being engineered from outside the jail.”
Ansari claimed that evidence was not being recorded correctly and even cited examples, like the testimony of police inspector Hemant Bavdhankar.
The special court has already issued a show-cause notice asking Ansari why reference should not be made to the HC for proceedings against him for contempt of court.