Mumbai: The trial of LeT suspect Zabiuddin Ansari, alias Abu Jundal, accused of coordinating the 26/11 Mumbai attacks from Karachi, is set to resume after seven years. Bombay HC Monday set aside as “wholly unsustainable” and “misdirected” a 2018 court order directing Delhi Police to hand over certain “sensitive documents” to Jundal, who claimed he was arrested in Saudi Arabia and not in Delhi.Justice R N Laddha said, “The location at which Jundal was apprehended is wholly immaterial to the exercise of his right to defend himself,” noting that he is an accused “alleged to have conspired in an offence that profoundly impacted nation’s sovereignty.”
HC observed that Jundal “remained entirely silent” when produced before a magistrate in Delhi in 2012 and raised his claim only mid-trial. It said the trial court had exceeded its jurisdiction, as the documents sought were unrelated to the charges and not “necessary or desirable” under Sec 91 CrPC.
