The trial of seven Pakistanis, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks was on Saturday adjourned for a week as the new judge hearing the case was on leave.
The case was shifted from an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi to a new anti-terrorism court in Islamabad last week.
Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi, who is currently hearing the case, was on leave and there were no proceedings on Saturday, sources told PTI. Besides, the government is yet to appoint a new chief prosecutor to replace Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali of the Federal Investigation Agency, who was assassinated by militants in Islamabad on May 3.
The sources said the case would be taken up by Judge Zaidi on June 29.
Zaidi's court was established recently to hear a case filed against former President Pervez Musharraf under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Till then, Islamabad had no anti-terrorism court and all terrorism cases were heard by courts in Rawalpindi.
Legal experts believe fresh proceedings will have to begin in the court in Islamabad and the judge will take some time to acquaint himself with the details of the case.
The Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court had been handling the Mumbai attacks case since 2009 though the judge has been changed five times.
The seven Pakistani suspects have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks that killed 166 people in Mumbai in November 2008.
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