The Home Ministry is treading cautiously over the Pakistan’s proposal to send a commission to India to interview the Magistrate, who recorded 26/11 gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab’s statement, and the Investigating Officer of the case and is awaiting a formal communication from the neighbouring country.
The Home Ministry would like to examine the Pakistani proposal and respond after consulting legal experts and it would be possible only after a formal communication is received. “We are awaiting for a formal communication from Pakistan,” a government official said.
India may seek clarifications from Pakistan on what exactly the Commission would want to do if it is allowed access to Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R V Sawant Waghule and Investigating Officer Ramesh Mahale.
The issue figured in the telephonic conversation Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik had with Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday. Malik raised the issue in the wake of an anti-terrorism court seeking a clarification from the Pakistan government on whether it has received permission from Indian authorities for the commission to travel to India.
The Pakistani Interior Minister recently had said that the trial of Lashkar-e-Toiba’s Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in Mumbai attacks case in a Pakistani court was “stuck” over the issue of Indian witnesses testifying via video-conferencing as this was not allowed under Pakistani laws.
The commission also intends to study the post-mortem reports of victims of the terrorist assault.
