LAHORE: In a major setback to the ongoing trial of the seven suspects arrested by the Pakistani police for their involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, the judge hearing the case has expressed his inability to continue with the case proceedings, citing unavoidable reasons. However, circles close to the judge say he was left with no other option but to quit after the lawyers of the accused had expressed their “no-confidence” in the judge on October 10 and boycotted the case proceedings to protest his decision to formally charge all the seven suspects in their absence.
Judge Baqir Ali Rana of the Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court No 2 is conducting the trial of the seven suspects of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) within high-security Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi due to security reasons. The judge had actually scheduled the next hearing of the 26/11 attackers’ case for October 24 but moved an application meanwhile to the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Justice Khawaja Sharif, saying he could not continue with the proceedings because of “unavoidable reasons”. The request is currently pending with the Chief Justice’s office and a decision is expected to be taken before the next hearing of the case of October 24. According to circles close to the judge, during the last hearing of the case on October 10, the lawyers of the accused expressed their no trust in the judge, saying that the indictment of the suspects was one-sided and an act of injustice. The accused had further refused to sign the papers related to their indictment in the absence of their lawyers. Khwaja Sultan, one of the four defence lawyers of the Mumbai attackers, had later raised objections about the manner in which the suspects were indicted. Sultan told reporters that none of the lawyers were present in court at the time of the indictment of the accused which was sheer injustice.
However, there are those who believe that Justice Rana took the extreme step as he felt he was under pressure from “both the sides” with regard to the trial of the suspects, including the Lashker-e-Toiba’s chief operational commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. There are also reports that the judge has received threats of dire consequences from some close associates of the under trial LeT leaders after he had indicted the suspects in the absence of their lawyers during a hearing on October 10. Analysts say if the judge quits the case at this stage; it would be a major setback to the 26/11 trial in Pakistan, throwing off track the already delayed process of justice. The judge had earlier ordered a blackout on the media coverage of the case proceedings. Though the order itself was not made public, sources said the order stated that the proceedings would be kept totally secret and not published in any manner as the case had implications for national security. The order said the media blackout was also necessary for the security of witnesses. Rana was appointed the judge for the Mumbai attacks case in July after the previous judge was removed as part of judicial reforms. Before his appointment, proceedings were stalled for over a month as the court was without a judge
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