Pakistan judicial panel says India visit was successful

Panel head Chaudhry Muhammed Azhar said the prosecution had a limited scope but it was able to reexamine all the evidence "within the given circumstances".

In this September 21, 2013 photo, members of the Pakistan Judicial Commission, probing the 26/11 attacks, arrive at India via the Attari land border.

The Pakistan Judicial Commission which is probing the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks says its visit to the city was successful from the prosecution point of view.

The commission returned on September 26, 2013 and Chaudhry Muhammed Azhar who heads it told The Hindu on Saturday that the visit was excellent and people were courteous and cooperative. He said the prosecution had a limited scope but it was able to reexamine all the evidence “within the given circumstances”.

The commission has cross-examined two witnesses, a doctor who carried out the post mortems of the nine terrorists who were killed in the attack and Ramesh Mahale, the investigating officer of the case. “The additional chief metropolitan magistrate who presided over the proceedings will seal the records and sent it to the government of India and then it will be sent to the Pakistan foreign office,” he said.

The report will be shared with the Federal Investigation Agency and the Anti-Terrorism Court after that. The case will be heard next on October 3, 2013. This time the commission was allowed to cross examine witnesses unlike last year. The eight-member commission visited India after initial delays, from September 21, 2013.