No Pak law allows handing over of Lakhvi voice sample
Lahore : It just takes two days for the Indo-Pak farce to become apparent. So, shortly after Nawaz Sharif and Narendra Modi met, we have Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s lawyer telling us that there is no Pakistan law that allows the 26/11 mastermind to hand over his voice samples.
Prosecution team’s chief Chaudhry Azhar has said that four years ago a Rawalpindi court handling the Mumbai terror attack case had dismissed an application for obtaining voice sample of Lakhvi on the ground that no such law exists in the country that allows obtaining of voice sample of an accused.
Nor will the Pakistan government file a fresh petition in the anti-terrorism court requesting for obtaining the voice sample of Lakhvi in the 26/11 case. Lakhvi is presently out of bail for lack of evidence. “The government will not file a fresh petition in the trial court requesting for obtaining the voice sample of Lakhvi,” Azhar added.
The prosecutor’s statement came despite Sharif and Mosi agreeing at their meeting in Russian city of Ufa to discuss ways and means to expedite the Mumbai case trial (in Pakistan), including an additional commitment on information like providing voice samples.
The declaration by the prosecution’s team clearly shows that Pakistan may not go the ‘extra mile’ in bringing the accused of the Mumbai attack to justice despite Sharif’s commitment to his Indian counterpart in this regard. “We have told India in writing that there is no law in Pakistan that allows obtaining a voice sample of an accused. There is no such law in India and the US either,” Azhar said, adding such a law can be introduced only through a Pakistani legislation.
After initially welcoming the Sharif-Modi meeting, leaders and media in Pakistan criticised the government over the absence of any mention of the vexed Kashmir issue in the joint statement which mentioned terrorism and the need to expedite the Mumbai trial. Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid has also not shown government’s intention to take this matter to their Parliament.
“Pakistan has included the Mumbai issue in the joint statement because we wanted India to provide us ‘solid evidence’ against the accused for their prosecution,” Rashid said, expressing his government’s strong resolve against terrorism.
“Pakistan is prosecuting those allegedly involved in the Mumbai attack case. But we need evidence. After the joint statement of Pakistani and Indian prime ministers the onus of providing
evidence is on India,” Rashid said, when asked whether the government would bring a legislation regarding recording of voice sample.
India has been upset over the almost non-existent trial in the 2008 Mumbai attack case, with even the mastermind Lakhvi being released by the court as the Pakistan government failed to furnish the required evidence. — PTI
