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Journalism of Courage
The Pakistani judicial commissions visit to India earlier this month was a completely futile exercise and a wasted effort as none of the witness statements recorded in Mumbai can be used as evidence in the 26/11 trial against seven Lashkar-e-Toiba men in Pakistan,the defence and prosecution lawyers in the case across the border have said.
Suggesting that the whole process was reduced to mere diplomatic posturing between the two nations,Khwaja Haris Ahmed,counsel for LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,told The Indian Express that the two governments had been ill-advised about agreeing to bar cross-examination of witnesses during court proceedings in Mumbai.
The whole trip was a wasted effort,and for all practical purposes,it was a completely futile exercise since the statements of the four witnesses cannot be used as evidence in the trial in Pakistan, Ahmed said,speaking over the phone from Pakistan. The law is very clear on the fact that unless cross-examination is allowed,witness statements are not admissible as evidence before a court, he said.
The government prosecutor who was part of the commission,Chaudhary Zulfiqar Ali,also told The Indian Express that without cross-examination,the statements of the witnesses could not be used for their desired purpose.
However,the judicial documents such as Ajmal Kasabs confession and post mortem reports admitted by the Mumbai court during the examination-in-chief of the witnesses should be accepted by Rawalpindi Anti-Terrorism Court, said Ali.
The judicial commission comprising four defence advocates,two prosecutors,a court-appointed officer,and a co-ordinating officer reached Mumbai from Lahore on March 15 after spending a day in the capital. They were provided security at par with Z+ category,and were put up at a hotel on Marine Drive in South Mumbai.
For the next two days,the commission recorded the statements of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R V Sawant Waghule who recorded Ajmal Kasabs confession in February 2009; investigating officer Ramesh Mahale of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch; Ganesh Niutkar,a doctor from JJ Hospital who conducted autopsies of some of the victims of the attack; and Shailesh Mohite,a doctor from Nair Hospital who conducted the post-mortem of Pakistani gunman Abu Ismail.
At the start of the proceedings,members of the panel demanded permission to cross-examine the four witnesses,to stiff opposition from the local public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The request,however,was turned down by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
