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HC rejects Kasab plea to determine age

Mumbai, Dec 14, DHNS The Bombay High Court on Tuesday turned down Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s plea seeking an inquiry to determine whether he was a juvenile at the time of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Kasab’s first lawyer in the trial court Abbas Kazmi had taken a stand that since Kasab was less than 21 years of age at the time of att

Kasab demands retrial, lawyers 'Inexperienced'

Shibu Thomas, TNN, Nov 26, 2010, 02.20am IST MUMBAI: A day before the second anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, Pakistani gunman Amir Ajmal Kasab\'s lawyers have demanded a retrial. His lawyers Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah claimed that Kasab\'s trial was not fair as he did not get effective legal aid. At the Bombay HC on Thursday, the de

I was a threat: Abbas Kazmi

New Delhi, October 09, 2010 He was perhaps one of the most controversial figures on the reality TV show Bigg Boss, but after his ouster on Friday night, terrorist Ajmal Kasab’s ex-lawyer Abbas Kazmi says he was eliminated because the other contestants saw him as a “threat”. “I was amicable with everyone and had a wonderful time, but whe

ONE MAN, MANY FACES- Afternoon 14th June 2010

What is Syed Ghulam Abbas Kazmi, Who defended the terrorist Kasab for most of his trial, doing these days? Philip Varghese meets him to hear his story

“DON,T want to go back bollywood again,” says famous advocate Syed Ghulam Abbas Kazmi, who had recently represented Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone arrested terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai attracts case, before his a appointment as ‘defense lawyer’ was revoked by the Special Court hearing the case.
Who would have ever thought that Kazmi, a lawyer of 25 years standing, who has defended several accused in the 1993 bomb blasts case, and collected undeserved opprobrium for standing up to defend Kasab, has also acted in several Bollywood films and plays, including the famous movie ‘Rang’, while he was himself a judge in the television serial Your Honour! The 54-year-old lawyer, who obtained a law degree from KC College in 1980, lived in Saudi Arabia for many years as a consultant. During partition his uncle and aunt migrated to Pakistan, but Kazmi’s presents shifted to Mumbai from Lucknow. In 1993, Kazmi handled the brief for a few accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case. But the man who defended a UK national in a child abuse case in Goa, turned a global celebrity when he accepted special Judge M.L. Tahiliyani’s proposal to appoint him as ‘Kasab’s lawyer’ on April 15, 2009. We met him late in the evening at his office near Mahim Dargah this weekend, to know more about this actor, who quit Bollywood to join legal profession. “I was basically a very good actor and even today I can act. I acted in lots of played the character of Mark Anthony in Julius Caesar. Later, I got a chance to work in the film Rang. Then I played the role of a judge in the serial Your Honour. I was very happy when I was acting and used to admire all the big Bollywood stars,” Kazmi said.

So why did he leave the world of films, if he was so happy and doing well? Kazmi said, “I never wanted to leave Bollywood and acting. But it was not supposed to be a career. When my parents saw how much I was enjoying, they sent me to Saudi Arabia to take up a job. I stayed there for over 13 years and later I returned to Mumbai in 1991. Immediately after my return from Saudi, I took up the 1993 blasts case.”` This was his first tryst with a high-profile case, and Kazmi declares he did his best for his clients. “The case had more than 100 accused and no direct Pakistan involvement. But it was one that attracted a lot of attention for obvious reasons. In a way, 1993 helped to prepare me for 26/11. That was a case I enjoyed the most!” says the lawyer, who was often on the receiving end from political leaders and even the public, merely for defending Kasab. Kazmi confessed that initially he was never interested in the 26/11 attacks case. “I had seen the images of Kasab wielding arms and ammunition in various newspapers and news channels. When talks were on for appointment of a lawyer to defend Kasab, I was only concentrating on my other client’s case. I was taken aback when I read of news about the security arrangements made for the lone arrested terrorist. Special cell. ITBP police force, three-tier frisking and a special tunnel made to transport Kasab from the special court to his cell. One day I decided to go to the special court in Arthur Road to see the new changes, as I had spend almost 13 years of my legal career there during the 1993 blasts trial. The day I went. I learned that advocate Anjali Waghmare, who was Kasab’s lawyer, had been divested of the case. On that day in a meeting with the honorable judge and other members of the bar, I said that if no lawyer is coming forward to take up the case, then the court could consider me. All of a sudden, out of the blue, I was appointed by the respected judge. Kasab was merely informed about it,” he said.

During the 26/11 trial, Kazmi slept only for five hours daily and would spend most of his time making notes and preparing for the arguments for next day. “My wife Farah and children, Anah, Samah and Ali, were concerned about my security, but they also know me well. I am a bold person and they know my adventurous nature. I tell my children that when time demands they should rise up and be unafraid of taking up life’s challenges. I took up the case as the purely professional duty of a patriotic Indian. I haven’t haggled over money.”

However, Kazmi says that he was deeply hurt and distressed with the harassment meted out to him during the 26/11 trial. Recently, he approached the Bombay High Court agents special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani for contempt of court. “I was hurt the most, when the judge called me a liar. Then special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam equated Me with the main conspirator and described me as a ‘terrorist lawyer’. Nikam had also said should be honored with the highest civilian award of Pakistan ‘Nishan-Imtiaz’ for defending kasab during the trial proceeding.

“All this time, Judge Tahaliyani was sitting as a silent spectator in the court. The lawyer, who appears in court, is an officer of the court, and the judge, who conducts the trial, cannot humiliate a lawyer. When prosecution had submitted 340 affidavits of formal witnesses, I had objected to their submission and prayed to the court these all were not formal witnesses and hence they should be examined. Subsequently, the court had removed me from the case and appointed a new lawyer to defend Kasab. Was I being removed for merely defending my client properly?” Kazmi asked. Kazmi claims that the 26/11 trial has only given him bitterness. “Because I took up Kasab’s case, I was thrown out as a ‘Trustee’ of the Islam Gymkhana, even though I am still a member. I never expected that I would be harassed so much. Now, two more Muslims advocates Amin Solkar and Farthna shah have been appointed as kasab’s lawyers. Why don’t these Muslim organizations and clubs protest their appointment?” Kazmi said. Would he appear in other cases of terrorism if he had a chance? “Mein aisa hi hun (I am always like this.) I love accepting challenges and will accept any terror case given to me. I am not afraid of anyone. I do my work with professionalism and would fight back if anyone plays around with me,” he says.

Azad Maidan cop was a coward: 26/11 judge‎

Mumbai: Principal judge ML Tahaliyani came down heavily on the inactive team from Azad Maidan police station which was outside the front gate of Cama hospital when two Pakistani terrorists — Abu Ismail and Ajmal Kasab — were wreaking havoc and killing policemen there. The court, which heard the 26/11 trial, pulled up the team led by police inspector Yashwant Thoravde for being mute spectators to the siege of Cama hospital. Had this six-member team showed some grit, and reinforcements asked for by Sadanand Date, additional commissioner of police, been provided, the series of killings inside the hospital and especially outside — that of three senior officers, Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte — would not have occurred. Thoravde and police naik Suresh Kadam had deposed before the court that they were stationed outside Cama hospital on the Mahapalika Road and in their full view the two terrorists left the hospital and entered Rang Bhavan lane where they killed Karkare and the two others. Apart from Thoravde and Kadam, the team included police sub-inspector, AR Shelke, police constables SD Uttekar and Rathod, and police naik Gavade, the driver of the jeep. “It appears that no effective steps were taken to apprehend them,” said the court. The court also observed that when Kasab and Ismail hijacked the Qualis and went towards Metro, none of the police officers chased them though they were armed with pistols and had a Bolero vehicle with them. he court observed that Thoravde as a leader “lacks courage to take initiative” as a result of which even Kadam who worked under him didn’t do anything to stop Kasab and Ismail from firing at public and police at Mahapalika road and Rang Bhavan lane. The judge stated that that their conduct “shows cowardliness on the part of police and lack of devotion towards duty”. “Aghast” at their attitude, the judge noted that Thoravde didn’t even bother to enter the Badruddin Tyebji (BT) Road (near Rang Bhavan) when they saw the two terrorists entering the road. “Instead of showing leadership quality and proceeding to BT Road along with his team, the officer left Mahapalika Road for Metro junction which is exactly opposite BT Road,” the judge noted. The judge hoped that appropriate action was taken against the officer. As per Kadam’s deposition, Date had ordered them to come to Cama hospital with arms and ammunition, and bullet-proof jackets. Instead, they decided to stand outside on Thoravde’s instructions, Kadam said. During cross-examination by then defence advocate Abbas Kazmi, Kadam had said that the two gunmen with their haversacks jumping from the gate looked like “press photographers”. The judge criticised Thoravde in particular. “Senior police officer Mr Thoravde, instead of chasing the accused, had gone to Bombay hospital on the pretext of visiting one of the police officers (who was injured in the Cama hospital incident),” said the judge. The court even went as far to say that if the reinforcements sought by Date had arrived, the series of killings that took place after that would not have occurred. The judge added that “it was an absolutely dangerous position” for both the accused to be on terrace of Cama hospital. “In fact it was an ideal position for the police to nab the accused 1 (Kasab) and deceased accused 1 (Ismail) or kill them on the terrace. It was unfortunate that the additional police help did not come within time and in the result two police officers lost their lives and other were seriously injured on the sixth floor of the hospital,” the judge stated.

Death or life for Kasab?‎

That lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, has filed a suit against these remarks the judge made while getting rid of him. Nariman, the expert, believes there is a ...

Kasab's conviction: Professional duty prevails over personal views‎

Boarding a train from a Nasik village to Mumbai in the spring of 1973 for higher studies, KP Pawar had little premonition that three decades later he would be hounded by national media for taking up an unenviable assignment—defending the 26/11-terror mascot, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab. But life is stranger than fiction. Last Thursday, when Kasab was awarded death penalty by the special court in Mumbai, Pawar, hitherto a non-descript lawyer from Nerul, was waving at TV cameras, flashbulbs and scores of mediapersons seeking soundbytes from the man who had sought leniency for the convict. Mr Pawar wasn’t in the limelight six months back. He was merely a junior lawyer, assisting Abbas Kazmi, the defense counsel for Kasab. In November 2009, Mr Kazmi was removed from the case for delaying the process of justice—first trying to prove that Kasab was a minor and later refusing the court’s suggestion to cross-examine only a specific number of witnesses. Mr Pawar, being the junior lawyer handling the case, was an obvious choice to replace Kazmi. Overnight, he became a VIP of sorts, with a battery of commandos watching his back 24 hours. For a brief while, he would stay as the second-most popular Pawar in the country, after the Union agriculture minister.

Mumbai attacks trial: key dates‎

A new lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, is appointed. Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam opens his case, alleging the plot was hatched in Pakistan and ...

Blah..! The 2009 Newsmakers

The man who took on the much-debatable stand to defend Ajmal Kasab to initiate a fair trial, Kazmi has ended up being in the news for the wrong reasons himself.
A year after the 26/11 attacks, the urgency to complete the trial saw him being terminated on the grounds of non-cooperation. Kazmi’s refusal to shortlist the number of eye witnesses he wanted to cross-check once again sparked off the public debate – how far is fair?

Hang me, please, Qasab tells court

"Hang me, please," terrorist Ajmal Amir Qasab pleaded before the special court on Wednesday, two days after the lone surviving Mumbai attacker admitted he was a Pakistani and narrated the chilling details of the events that led to the killing spree leaving over 170 people dead in the terror assault in November last year...

Qasab lawyer's plea to inspect terror spots rejected

A special court on Thursday rejected a plea of defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi seeking permission to inspect the 26/11 terror attack sites and the marine vessel M V Kuber allegedly used by LeT terrorists to reach Mumbai shores from Pakistan...

Kazmi cries foul over denial of trusteeship

After being criticised by a section of his Shia community for defending Ajmal Amir Kasab, lawyer Abbas Kazmi is now being denied trusteeship of the Islam Gymkhana at Marine Lines on the same ...

26/11 terror trial deferred to May 2

Trial in the 26/11 terror attack case was adjourned till May 2 on Wednesday to give time to Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab's lawyer to read the massive 11,000-page charge sheet. "We cannot lose sight of the fact that advocate Abbas Kazmi came into the picture only after advocate Anjali Waghmare left...

Mumbai attacks defence 'nearly impossible': lawyer

The lawyer for the only surviving suspected gunman of the Mumbai attacks believes defending his Pakistani client in an Indian court poses a "nearly impossible" challenge...

I have done the nation a great service: Kazmi

A special court on Thursday rejected a plea of defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi seeking permission to inspect the 26/11 terror attack sites and the marine vessel M V Kuber allegedly used by LeT terrorists to reach Mumbai shores from Pakistan...

Kasab\'s lawyer asks for one month to study chargesheet

Ajmal Amir Kasab\'s lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, refused to open his arguments on Tuesday asking the court for a month\'s time to read the massive11,000- page chargesheet. He also informed the court on Kasab\'s request for a copy of the chargesheet in Urdu...

Muslims tell Kazmi to refuse Kasab's case

S G Abbas Kazmi, defending lone surviving gunman in November 26 terror attack case Mohammed Amir Ajmal Kasab, on Sunday said he had received "feelers" from "certain groups" of minority community...

Kasab alleges torture, retracts confession

MUMBAI: Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist on trial for last year's Mumbai attacks, wants to retract his confession, claiming it was extracted by torture, his defence lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, told reporters on Friday...

Kasab springs double dodge

Mumbai gunman Ajmal Kasab's trial got off to an action-packed start today with his lawyer Abbas Kazmi pulling out two of the oldest defence tricks out of his hat...

Shia group opposes Qasab's lawyer

In an appeal that caused a stir at day three of the proceedings in the trial of Ajmal Amir Qasab, his lawyer Abbas Kazmi said that Qasab was a minor at the time of the incident and hence should be tried in the juvenile court...

26/11: Abbas Kazmi is Kasab's new lawyer

Kazmi, who was appointed by special judge M L Tahilyani, will replace Anjali Waghmare, who was removed by the special court a day earlier on grounds of "professional misconduct"...

Court appoints Abbas Kazmi as Qasab's lawyer

A special court in Mumbai has appointed Abas Kazmi as the lawyer for Amir Ajmal Qasab, the lone surviving terrorist of the November 26 Mumbai attacks...