Kasab tells court he understands English

When the judge asked Kasab if he understands English, Kasab said “Ji Sir”, reports Vignesh Iyer.

The special court on Monday said the trial in the 26/11 terror attack case would be held in a specially-constructed court in the Arthur Road jail from April 15.

HT Image

Just as proceedings began the judge directed Arthur Road jailor Swati Sathe, in English, to make arrangements for Ajmal Amir Kasab’s chargesheet to be sent to the court so that it could be handed over to the court-appointed defence lawyers Anjali Waghmare and KP Pawar.

Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the 26/11 attack, was produced before the court via video conferencing.

The judge asked Kasab, “Main ne jo jailor se baat ki hai who aap ko samaj mein aayi (Did you understand what I just said to the jailor)?” Replying in the affirmative, Kasab said: “Ji, Sir (Yes Sir).” At this, when the judge again asked if he understood English, Kasab once again said “Ji Sir”.

The judge then asked why he had demanded a copy of the chargesheet in Urdu, Kasab smiled and said, “Usme sirf reports English mein hai (Only the reports in the chargesheet are in English).”

Meanwhile, Fahim Ansari, the alleged mapmaker in the 26/11 attack, said he would need a month to decide if he wanted to continue with advocate Ejaz Naqvi as his lawyer. He also alleged that the police were pressurising him to take a lawyer from the state legal aid panel.