Kasab judicial panel: India asks Pakistan to clarify terms
By IANSWednesday, October 20, 2010
NEW DELHI - India Wednesday asked Pakistan for details of the judicial commission it plans to send here to verify statements of officials who recorded the confessional of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the 26/11 terror convict, and ruled out their cross-examination.
“India has sought clarifications from the Pakistan side on, inter alia, the law under which the commission will be constituted, its composition, the nature, scope and modus operandi of the work of the commission, external affairs ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash told reporters here.
“A confirmation has also been sought that the commission would only record the statements of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and Investigating Officer and that no cross-examination would take place, he said.
“Once Pakistan has responded to these relevant questions, the government of India would be in a position to take a decision on the proposal, he stressed.
Pakistan has made a proposal for sending a judicial commission to verify the statements of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate and the Chief Investigating Officer, who had recorded Kasabs confessional statement, and the para-medical staff, who performed the post-mortem examination of the dead bodies of the other slain terrorists.
Pakistan has requested for the views of the government of India on receiving and facilitating a judicial commission for recording the relevant evidence.
Earlier, Pakistan rejected the Indian suggestion for a video conferencing with Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R.V. Sawant Wagule, the judicial officer who recorded the confessional statement of Kasab, and chief investigating officer Ramesh Mahale.
Last week, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said the trial of Lashkar-e-Taibas Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six suspects in the 26/11 attacks case was stuck in a Pakistani court over the issue of video-conferencing.
Pakistan contends that allowing the commission to visit India to examine witnesses will accelerate progress in its 26/11 probe.
