Pakistani lawyer joins prosecution panel in Mumbai attack case

Islamabad: The Pakistan government included a lawyer having experience in international law in the panel of prosecutors in the 2008 Mumbai attack case on Sunday.

"The government has included Lahore-based lawyer Misbahul Hassan Qazi in the panel to prosecute the accused in the Mumbai terror attack case," prosecution chief Chaudhry Azhar said.

He said Qazi was a good addition to the prosecution panel as he had rich experience in the international laws. To a question whether Qazi would replace him, Azhar, who is also a special prosecutor Federal Investigation Agency, said "No. In fact his addition will help us plead the case".

Advocate Syed Abuzar Husnain Pirzada is the third member of the prosecution panel. Mumbai attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman?Lakhvi and six others Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in November, 2008 that left 166 people dead.

The trial has been underway since 2009 in the Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad. In December, 2014, the trial court granted bail to 54-year-old Lakhvi but he was detained the next day under the MPO act.

However, the Islamabad High Court suspended Lakhvi's detention on "weak legal ground". Pakistan had faced an angry reaction from India following the bail order.

Just before he was to be released from Adiala Jail, awalpindi, Lakhvi was arrested on charges of kidnapping an Afghan national in 2009.

Later, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court's order on the government's plea. Subsequently, the government extended his detention for another 30 days. Lakhvi has challenged his detention in Islamabad High Court.

The high court has also barred the federal government from booking Lakhvi in any other case without its permission.