Mumbai, November 30: In a dramatic turn of events, a special trial court today sacked Abbas Kazmi, the lawyer of Ajmal Kasab, the lone captured terrorist in Mumbai attack, for “non-cooperation” and appointed a new advocate, a move the prosecution feels would not delay the trial.
Special judge M L Tahalyani ordered Kazmi’s dismissal after he refused to consider the court’s suggestion to choose the witnesses he would want to cross-examine from a list of 71.
K P Pawar was appointed Kasab’s new lawyer in place of Kazmi.
The prosecution today told the court the affidavits of 340 witnesses are divided into 12 categories — claimants of bodies, medical officers, the injured, inquest witnesses and persons who carried the seized evidence material to the forensic lab.
–Agencies