Pakistan on Saturday admitted that the trial here in the Mumbai terror case had got “stuck” and said it decided to approach the trial court on Monday for permission to set up a commission to visit India to record the statements of the key witness to the attack.
This was disclosed here by Interior Minister Rehman Malik after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Sharat Sabharwal.
The trial of Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and six others in the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi has not made headway in the past months. For, the prosecution's case is based on the statement made by Ajmal Kasab — the lone terrorist nabbed alive during the attack — which is not admissible here.
Briefing journalists, Mr. Malik said the prosecution would seek permission to send a commission as videoconferencing of the police official and magistrate who recorded Kasab's statement is also not permissible under Pakistan law. India recently suggested videoconferencing after Pakistan's request that Kasab be brought here to testify was turned down.
According to Mr. Malik, he had sounded out his Indian counterpart, P. Chidambaram, on the commission in a recent telephone conversation.