26/11 trial in Pakistan adjourned for 7th time in a row as judge goes on vacation

Lahore, Jul 23: For the seventh time in a row, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court trying the seven accused in the 2008 Mumbai attacks case adjourned the hearing on Wednesday till September 3 as the judge has gone on a summer vacation.

The court office notified that ATC Rawalpindi Judge Attiquer Rehman has gone on a summer vacation. The last hearing in the case and the one on June 25 could not be held because the judge was on leave.

The case proceedings have not been held on a regular basis following the absence of the prosecution lawyers. In the May 28, June 4, June 18 and July 2 hearings, the prosecution lawyers had not appeared in the ATC Rawalpindi primarily owing to security concerns.

The prosecution lawyers had drawn the court's attention to ensure their security in the face of threats they received allegedly from Jamaat-ud-Dawah activists.

Lashkar-e-Taiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Anjum have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks in India's financial capital that killed 166 people in November, 2008.

PTI