An eight-member Pakistani judicial commission will visit India from September 7 to cross-examine witnesses of the Mumbai terror attacks in order to take forward the prosecution of seven suspects. Prosecutors Saturday told an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad conducting the trial of the seven suspects that an Indian government letter dated August 23 had stated the Pakistani judicial commission could visit Mumbai during September 5-6. But Riaz Akram Cheema,part of the team defending the accused,said the commission could not travel on the dates given by Indian government as there was no flight to India during this period. The commission will leave on September 7 for Delhi and it will need at least four days to cross-examine the four witnesses (in Mumbai), Cheema said. The letter mentioned that Mumbais Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate P Y Ladekar would coordinate with the Pakistani panel for the cross-examination of the witnesses. The witnesses are the magistrate who recorded LeT member Ajmal Kasabs confessional statement,the chief investigating officer and two doctors who conducted the autopsy on the terrorists who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. This will be the commissions second visit to India. A report submitted by the panel after its first visit in March 2012 was rejected by an anti-terrorism court as the commissions members were not allowed to cross-examine witnesses. Atiqur Rehman,a judge at the anti-terrorism court in Islamabad,ordered the prosecution to get a gazette notification issued about the commissions visit before the next hearing on September 3. He directed the Pakistan government to inform its Indian counterpart about the schedule of the commissions visit. The hearing of the Mumbai case was held at the anti-terrorism court after a gap of over a month. After the panel visits India and cross-examines the witnesses,Pakistan is expected to reciprocate by granting an Indian judicial commission access to Pakistani suspects.
