Anjali Waghmare, the lawyer appointed to represent lone terrorist arrested in 26/11 attack Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, on Tuesday told the special court that she needed a day to consider whether she would appear in the case following protests at her residence yesterday.
Anjali Waghmare, the lawyer appointed to represent lone terrorist arrested in 26/11 attack Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab, on Tuesday told the special court that she needed a day to consider whether she would appear in the case following protests at her residence yesterday.
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"I am under a lot of pressure. Give me one day to decide and think over it," an emotional Waghmare told special judge ML Tahiliyani.
"The media has exaggerated and is saying that I have taken the case up voluntarily. There were more than 300 persons outside my house yesterday," she told the court.
Asking the media to give the correct message to the public, Waghmare said the mob outside her house had questioned how she could represent Qasab despite being a police official's wife.
Waghmare, an advocate from the Maharashtra legal aid, was appointed by the court yesterday to represent Qasab in the upcoming trial of the terrorist on April 6.
"Why has not media gone to Uddhav Thackeray over the attack? Who is the mob to decide whether the trial will go on or not?" Waghmare said.
Meanwhile, security for the lawyer has been increased following the protest, senior police officials said. Waghmare also visited the Mumbai police headquarters today after which she appeared before the special court.
After hearing the Waghmare in court, Special Judge ML Tahiliyani said she had been following the court's orders by representing Qasab.
Following the protest outside the advocate's residence it had become necessary for the court to examine whether contempt of court proceedings could be issued against arrested members of the mob for obstructing the court's proceedings by threatening the lawyer, Judge Tahiliyani said.
The court directed the senior police inspector of the Worli police station to file a detailed report on the matter.
The nine arrested persons were produced before a magistrate's court where they were remanded to police custody till tomorrow, Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region) Sadanand Date said.
The protestors have been booked under various sections of the IPC for unlawful assembly and house trespass, a senior police official said.
Qasab, a Pakistani national, and two others, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, will be facing trial for their alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks which claimed 180 lives.
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