Qasab lawyer's plea to inspect terror spots rejected

A special court on Thursday rejected a plea of defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi seeking permission to inspect the 26/11 terror attack sites and the marine vessel M V Kuber allegedly used by LeT terrorists to reach Mumbai shores from Pakistan.

Kazmi is defending prime accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the attacks last year. Judge M L Tahilyani said that there was no provision under CrPc to allow lawyers to visit the place of offence but the defence lawyer was free to visit public places and permission in this regard was not required from the court.

However, in case of M V Kuber, permission cannot be given by the court because the boat has already been handed over to its owner on a bond executed by him, the judge said.

At this point, an inspection of Kuber was not necessary but if the court felt at a later stage that the visit was required it would give the permission to the lawyers, the judge added.

The court noted that evidence regarding murder of navigator of Kuber Amar Singh Solanki would be recorded shortly and at this stage it was not necessary for the lawyer to visit the boat.