Table Kasab's confessional statement: Pak SC to Lakhvi's counsel

Islamabad, May 6 (ANI): A three-member Pakistan Supreme Court bench, consisting Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, has asked for the confessional statement of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Mumbai terror attack gunman.

Hearing a petition filed by Lashkar-e-Taiba's (LeT) operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who has been named as one of the chief conspirator of the November 2008 Mumbai attacks, the apex court told Lakhvi's lawyer, Sultan Khwaja to table Kasab's confessional statement, which he made in a special anti-terror court in Mumbai.

Khwaja argued before the court that Lakhvi cannot be named a co-accused in the Mumbai attack case or be tried on the basis of Kasab's statement.

"The statement was not given in a Pakistani court, so Lakhvi could not be named as a co-accused in the case or be tried," Khwaja pleaded during the hearing over Lakhvi's petition seeking quashing of criminal proceedings against him.

Following the argument, the court directed Khwaja to table Kasab's statement in the court on the next hearing, and the hearing was adjourned till May 11, The Daily Times reports.

Talking to reporters after the hearing, Khwaja , who is defending the seven men being tried by an anti-terrorism court for abetting and planning the ghastly Mumbai attacks, said his clients would actually be benefited from the verdict of the special Mumbai court, which has convicted Kasab and acquitted the other two Indian's accused of providing logistical support to the masterminds.

The special anti-terror court, which has been set up inside the Arthur road Jail in Mumbai, would announce the quantum of punishment for Kasab today (Thursday, May 6). (ANI)