ISLAMABAD: As the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks case steps up efforts to secure his acquittal, the federal government has decided to hand over the case to another prosecutor, in the hopes he may be able to jumpstart the long-dragging trial of Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

An official close to the investigation of the Mumbai attacks case told Dawn that Lahore-based lawyer Misbahul Hassan Qazi has been nominated to prosecute Lakhvi in the case.

Read: Lakhvi gets bail, again

“The interior secretary had given approval for the appointment of Advocate Misbahul Hassan Qazi as special prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case and has forwarded a summary to the law ministry to issue a notification,” he said.

The official said that if appointed, Mr Qazi would be the third special prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case.

An advocate of the Supreme Court, he has earlier served the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as a senior prosecutor.

Also read: Mumbai attack 'mastermind' Lakhvi detained under MPO

Advocate Qazi confirmed to Dawn that being a professional lawyer, he was on good terms with the attorney general, but did not comment on his appointment in the Mumbai attacks case, saying instead that he had dealt with criminal proceedings and had earlier been engaged in trials before Anti Terrorism Courts.

Also read: Legal loopholes led to Lakhvi’s bailing out

Currently, there are two special prosecutors namely Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry and Syed Abuzar Husnain Pirzada, dealing with the Mumbai attacks case.

Misbahul Hassan Qazi said to be proficient in international law

Advocate Abuzar Pirzada was appointed to the case after the murder of special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali. Ali was gunned down near his residence in Sector G-9 of Islamabad. The slain prosecutor was dealing with two high profile cases – Mumbai attacks and the Benazir Bhutto murder case.

The federal government began headhunting for a new special prosecutor in the Mumbai attacks case after an Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) on December 18 granted Lakhvi post-arrest bail.

Also read: ‘Secret’ papers presented about Lakhvi during in-camera hearing

Lakhvi, along with six other suspects, was in detention since February 2009. He was accused of being the mastermind of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people. The Pakistani government took Lakhvi and other suspects into custody in February 2009 for ‘facilitating’ the attacks.

The Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Lakhvi and six other alleged abettors in 2009.

India and some other countries took strong exception to the granting of bail to Lakhvi, only a couple of days after the December 16 terrorist attacks on Army Public School, Peshawar.

This forced the government to detain Lakhvi under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO). The IHC on December 29 suspended the detention order, but the Supreme Court on January 7 restored Lakhvi’s detention.

The prosecution in the Mumbai attacks case has filed a petition seeking the cancellation of Lakhvi’s bail which is still pending in the IHC. In the petition, the FIA’s special prosecutor claimed that, “The fact remained that being the prosecution in such cases has been the most difficult job in our country for the last many years.” The petition further states, “Even in this case, the prosecutors have been receiving threats on their cellphones during the proceedings which were duly conveyed to the concerned authorities. The witnesses are also not protected and were reluctant to depose against the accused persons in the given situation.”

The government, in the meantime, registered another FIR against Lakhvi on December 29 in a six-year-old case of the kidnapping of an Afghan national.

Lakhvi through his lawyer has recently filed petitions for his acquittal in the kidnapping case and for setting aside his detention order. IHC is likely to take up his petition in next week.

The official Dawn spoke to claimed that advocate Qazi was not well versed with criminal proceedings but, rather had been appointed to deal with international issues in the Mumbai attacks case. The official claimed that Advocate Qazi was a close friend of Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt.

He pointed out that “the trial in the Mumbai attacks case is being carried out under the criminal procedure code and there was no need to appoint an expert on international law.”

AG Salman Aslam Butt was not available for comment despite repeated attempts. Ashtar Ausaf Ali, the newly-appointed special assistant to the prime minister on law said that since he has only recently taken charge, he did not know have any information in this regard.

Published in Dawn March 8th , 2015

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