Pakistan has issued a notification on the formation of a judicial commission that will visit India to interview key officials and witnesses linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. A gazette notification has listed the members who will represent Pakistan government in the judicial commission. The delegation will include Khalid Qureshi, the head of the Federal Investigation Agency's Special Investigation Group and Muhammad Azhar Chaudhry and Chaudhry Zulifqar, the two main prosecutors.
The notification further said that representatives of the defence lawyers would also be a part of the commission. But lawyers for seven Pakistani suspects, including LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, said they would not join the panel due to security concerns.
The notification was issued in response to a directive from the anti-terrorism court that is conducting the trial of seven Pakistani suspects, including Lakhvi, who have been charged with planning and financing the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people. The Pakistani judicial commission will work with Indian law officers to question and record the statements of witnesses and key officials, including the magistrate who recorded Kasab's confession, the police officer who led the investigation in Mumbai and doctors who conducted the autopsies of the victims and attackers.
The prosecution has said it was important for the commission to visit India so that the trial in Pakistan can be taken forward. It further said countries like the US, whose citizens were killed in the Mumbai attacks, were anxiously waiting for progress in the trial.