With the trial in the 7/11 serial train blasts case to resume from May 24 before a special MCOCA court here, the 13 arrested accused, who had earlier refused to appoint lawyers to defend them, have now approached several criminal lawyers.
The accused had refused to appoint lawyers earlier and had approached the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of a particular section pertaining to insurgency in the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
However, the Supreme Court had on April 25 dismissed the petition and had vacated the stay on the trial.
The 13 accused have now approached the Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind, a Muslim organization that arranges legal aid, which in turn has contacted several criminal lawyers to defend these suspects.
"We have approached senior lawyers like R B Mokashi, Prakash Shetty and Sudeep Pasbola. While Mokashi has agreed to take up the case, we are awaiting replies from the other lawyers," general secretary of the organization, Gulzar Azmi told PTI.
While confirming this, Mokashi, who had also defended acquitted accused Faheem Ansari in the 26/11 terror attack case, said, "since there are several accused in the case it is too early to say which one I would be appearing for."
As many as 13 persons alleged to be members of the banned terror outfit Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were
arrested for carrying out serial blasts on local suburban
trains on July 11, 2006 that killed 187 persons and injured
over 800 others.
The accused were charged under various sections of MCOCA and for waging war against the nation and conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The first witness in the case, a police sub-inspector had deposed before a special MCOCA court, following which the trial was stayed as one of the accused Kamal Ansari moved the Supreme Court.
"On May 24, all the accused would be produced before special MCOCA Judge Y D Shinde. They would then inform the court on whether they have appointed a lawyer for themselves after which summons would be sent to witnesses to remain present in court on the next date of hearing," special public prosecutor Raja Thakare said.
