Long trial for Ajmal; tribulation for India

As people across the country await the verdict in the trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist caught during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the trial will be remembered as perhaps the most elaborate and the fastest criminal trial held in India.

Here is a time line of Kasab's trial:

November 26, 2008: Lone terrorist Kasab arrested at Girgaun in Mumbai.

January 13, 2009: M L Tahiliyani appointed as judge to conduct the trial.

February 26: Police filed over 11,000-page charge sheet; served on Kasab.

Kasab was named in 312 counts, one of the highest numbers of charges ever, against an accused.

February 27: Ujjwal Nikam appointed public prosecutor.

March, 31: Anjali Waghmare appointed Kasab''s lawyer. Kasab appears through video-conferencing.

Political protests and threats followed. Within days, Anjali Waghmare was removed on the grounds that she was also representing some of the victims of 26/11.

April 15: Trial was put off as his lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had been dismissed for a conflict of interest.

April 16: Abbas Kazmi appointed defence lawyer.

April 17: Trial begins at the Arthur Road Jail.

April 20: Prosecution submits list of charges, Kasab faces murder of 166 people.

April 28: Kasab wrote a letter through his lawyer to the magistrate requesting a perfume bottle, a toothpaste, Urdu newspaper and permission to walk in the adjacent lane alongside his barrack.

May6: Kasab pleaded not guilty to 86 charges.

May 8: An eyewitness identifies Kasab in court.

May 15: Two doctors who treated Kasab identify him.

May 19: Hyderabad college principal says Kasab used fake I-card.

May 21: Prosecution seeks to alter charges in the 26/11 terror case to include liberation of Jammu and Kashmir as an objective in the LeT conspiracy.

May 27: An eyewitness says he saw Kasab, nine others arrive by boat.

June 2: Kasab tells judge he also understands Marathi.

June 10: An eyewitness at CST railway station identifies Kasab.

June 23: The special court issues non-bailable warrant against 22 absconding accused including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed and chief of operations-Lashkar-e-Toiba, Zaki-ur-Rehman Laqvi.

June 25: The hearing turned in to Kasab''s medical bulletin. He claimed he was suffering from stomach ulcers. There was a worry that the defence may push this as evidence of Kasab being mistreated in custody. But it was soon clarified that Kasab had ulcer even before he reached India.

July 7: Forensic expert deposes in 26/11 terror attack case.

July 16: Court views CCTV footage of Kasab's movements outside CST.

July 20: Kasab retracted his non-guilty plea and pleaded guilty to all charges.

August 12: For the first time in Indian history, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials deposed before the Court and gave technical evidence.

December 18: Kasab says he is innocent, he was framed and tortured by Indian police. In a surprising U-turn, he claims to have come to Mumbai 20 days ago and was simply roaming at Juhu beach when police arrested him.

January 25, 2010: In yet another attempt to drag the case, Kasab told the special court he wanted to be tried by an international court. Predictably the appeal was rejected.

March 23: After 189 days, the prosecution closed its arguments.

Six hundred and seventy-five pages of written arguments were submitted to the court, with the plea - Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Aamir Kasab and his two Indian associates, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed were guilty of slaughtering 166 innocents and they should be punished with death.

March 31: Judge Tahiliyani said his verdict would be given on May 3. If Kasab is proved guilty to all charges, he may get the death penalty.

Also read our specials:

# The confession of a terrorist

# How the police broke Kasab

# All about Mumbai terror attack

 How Kasab took to radical Islam