Journalism of Courage
Fahim Ansari,an accused in the 26/11Mumbai terror attack case,has sought bail to search for a lawyer to represent him as his former lawyer Shahid Azmi was gunned down by assailants at his Kurla office on February 11. The court has directed the prosecution to file its reply on the plea by Monday.
Ansari said in his bail plea that no lawyer was ready to take up his case and he wanted to go out on bail to appoint a lawyer himself.
Azmis junior Saba Qureshi,who was present in the court on today,said she was ready to defend Ansari if he allowed her to. However,Ansaris relatives were skeptical about Qureshi defending him. We are looking for a lawyer and only if we dont find someone then we might give the go-ahead to Qureshi to represent us, said Ansaris wife Yasmeen.
Meanwhile,the prosecution moved an application to produce 44 more affidavits of formal nature as evidence,which was opposed by Ajmal Kasabs lawyer KP Pawar. He argued that the prosecution should have submitted its evidence in the initial stages and not after the court had recorded the statements of the three accused.
Special Judge M L Tahilyani said he would pass an order on the prosecutions application on Monday after ascertaining whether the nature of the evidence is formal or not.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said,The list of witnesses include inquest panch,carriers of FSL reports and bodies from the terror site to the hospital. According to Supreme Court judgments,evidence of formal nature can be presented to the court even after the accused statement is over.
