Defence plea for names of witnesses, panchas turned down

Pertaining to the first request,Rehman argued that most witnesses and panchas are from outside Pune and the accused is lodged in jail. Therefore,there should be no apprehension about threat to them from the accused. Thakare in his reply opposed it saying,“There are six accused persons who are still absconding and has international links. The conspiracy meetings took place in Colombo and in Maharashtra,whereas the actual blast took place in Pune.” Thakare added that a magistrate court here had admitted the ATS request to hide the names of witnesses and panchas on December 4 and that this order has not been challenged by the defence. However,Thakare assured that the names will be disclosed to the defence at appropriate time.

Justifying his second plea to view CCTV footages,Rehman cited Section 46 of the UAPA Act. However,SPP Thakare argued that this section is applicable to electronic mode of communication like telephone or walkie-talkie and not to CCTV footages. Rehman said he would soon visit the ATS office along with his assistants Kaynath Shaikh and Mohammad Ali Bashir Sayyed.

Meanwhile,as per Rehman’s earlier request,he was handed over a copy of the Al Noor guest house in Mumbai by Assistant Commissioner of Police,ATS,Vinod Satav on Tuesday.