Main accused Aseemanand in Panchkula. (file/Express Photo by Jaipal Singh)A special NIA court here, hearing the 2007 Samjhauta train blast case, Monday reserved its verdict for Wednesday on a plea flied by a Pakistani woman for examining eyewitnesses from her country.
“The court adjourned the matter for March 20 for order on the application filed last week,” NIA counsel Rajan Malhotra said.
Rahila Wakil, the daughter of blast victim Muhammad Wakil of Hafizabad district in Pakistan, has also filed an application in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking a stay on the NIA court’s verdict in the blast case till a final decision was taken over her application on examination of witnesses from Pakistan. The application was yet to be cleared by the HC Registry till late Monday evening for hearing due to technical objections.
The special NIA court on March 11 had deferred its verdict in the case to March 14 after Wakil moved an application under Section 311 CrPC. In the application, she claimed that no proper summons were sent to 13 Pakistani witnesses, adding they were ready to depose before the court. Taking her plea on record, the court had issued a notice to NIA seeking its response. Wakil, according to the NIA, is not among the 13 witnesses in the case.
The blast in Samjhauta Express near Panipat on February 18, 2007, had ripped apart two coaches, killing 68 people, including 43 Pakistani nationals.
