Click to play videoMumbai: The trial in the November 26 Mumbai attack case will begin at a special sessions court in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail on Friday.
With finally a lawyer to defend him, 26/11 terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab will be tried for killing 166 people during the mayhem that he along with nine other Pakistani terrorists unleashed in Mumbai last November.
Kasab’s case is arguably India's most secure and emotionally-charged trial and will begin amid unprecedented security system put in place to secure India's most prized catch during the 26/11 attack.
Kasab has already got a new lawyer with the court on Thursday appointing noted advocate SG Abbas Kazmi to defend the Pakistani terrorist.
Unlike Kasab's previous lawyer Anjali Waghmare, Kazmi is not from the legal aid panel.
He has a private practice and was appointed only because no one from the panel was willing to take the case in which Kasab has been charged with the murder of 166 people.
"As I said, you know, when I was watching through the media that advocates were reluctant and hesitant to take up this case, and to the few advocates that were appointed, were meted out very bad treatment. So I thought that it is my legal and professional duty that in case I have to defend a person like him, and if the court requires it, then I should not hesitate," Kazmi replied when CNN-IBN asked him why he agreed to take up the case.
Kazmi also said that Kasab did not understand the gravity of the charges against him.
"See, what I see is that he is at a very tender age and he does not understand the seriousness of allegations which he faces. So he is totally naive about it," said Kazmi, who is a member of the Sessions Court Bar Council.
Kasab was also the counsel amicus curie in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
Meanwhile, security agencies are taking no chances and over 450 police personnel have been deployed outside Arthur Road Jail. Vehicle movement has been restricted around the special court, with multiple entry and exit points blocked.
Kasab will use a bomb and chemical-proof corridor, connecting his prison cell to the court. The corridor has been fitted with CCTVs.
Media entry is restricted, and special bar-coded cards have been issued to media houses, lawyers and court staff.
Reporters have been allowed to carry their I-cards, passes and diaries.. but no pens allowed. Those will be provided by the crime branch for security reasons.
Biometrics security systems, too, have been put in place.
Hearing did not begin in the case as Kasab had no lawyer to fight his case for a long time as no advocate was willing to defend him.
Finally renowned lawyer Mukesh Deshmukh offered to take up the case but withdrew after his house was allegedly attacked by Shiv Sena activists.
Waghmare then agreed to defend Kasab and the trial was to start on Wednesday. But it got postponed after Waghmare was removed from the case for professional misconduct as he had advised a witness in the 26/11 Cama Hospital case.
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