PROSECUTION MOCKED ME: KAZMI

PROSECUTION MOCKED ME: KAZMI

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July 20, 2022

Abbas Kazmi spoke out the day after the 26/11 trial court sacked him as Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer, accusing the prosecution of having mocked him. Judge M.L Tahaliyani removed Kazmi on December 1, on charges of “non-cooperation” and delaying the trial. Kazmi will not, however, appeal against his removal in a higher court as he does not want to obstruct the trial, he told journalists outside the special sessions court inside Arthur Road Jail. He alleged that special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had called him Abu Abbas (a name similar to those of wanted terrorists Abu Hamza and Abu Kafa) and a ‘terrorist lawyer’, and made remarks about Kazmi being rewarded by Pakistan for defending Kasab. “The prosecutor may have been speaking in a lighter vein when he made these remarks, but they were very hurtful and humiliating. Finally, I was termed a liar (an observation later expunged) by the court, before being removed. This surely hurts a lot,” Kazmi said. “The entire nation was hostile towards me. I was not allowed to take my mobile phone, laptop, and briefcase inside the high-security prison,” Kazmi lamented.