Pak court reserves ruling on Lakhvi acquittal plea

A Pakistani court reserved till Wednesday its decision on a petition filed by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi seeking his acquittal in the Mumbai attack case.

A Rawalpindi-based division bench of the Lahore high court reserved its judgement on Tuesday after hearing lengthy arguments by Lakhvi's lawyer and prosecution counsel.

Lakhvi recently filed the petition in the high court to challenge an anti-terrorism court's decision dismissing his plea for acquittal.

During the hearing, Lakhvi's lawyer told the bench that he should be acquitted, as there was no evidence against him.

The lawyer said the anti-terrorism court could not proceed against Lakhvi solely on the basis of the statement made to Indian authorities by Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist arrested for the Mumbai attacks.

Lakhvi's lawyer contended that documents received from India that were being used by the prosecution were not certified. He also said Lakhvi's trial could not be separated from that of Kasab.

The lawyer further told the bench that no witness had linked Lakhvi to the case.

During his argument, Special Public Prosecutor Malik Rab Nawaz Noon said all the prosecution witnesses had linked Lakhvi to the attacks.

He said there was evidence that Lakhvi had set up camps at which terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were trained.

Noon also told the court that there was evidence that Lakhvi was the mastermind of the attacks in the Indian financial hub on November 26, 2008.

He further said the documents received from India had been sent through proper government-to-government channels and there was no need to authenticate them.

Another bench of the Lahore high court last week dismissed a separate application by Lakhvi seeking the transfer of his trial from the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi to Lahore.

Lakhvi was indicted with six others -- Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jamil Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum -- for planning and helping execute the attacks that killed nearly 180 people.