TOI

Mumbai, Apr 15: Advocate Anjali Waghmare has been removed as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer in the Mumbai terror attack trial which was scheduled to begin on Thursday.

The special court removed Anjali on grounds of ‘professional misconduct’. She was earlier appointed by the court to represent Kasab, the long surviving terrorist captured in the November 29 attacks that took place last year.

According to reports, the trial will not be disrupted since Kasab also has another lawyer.

Waghmare, appointed by the court to defend Kasab, is mired in a controversy which seems to put her in a tight spot in the wake of allegations that she had first accepted brief of a witness in this case before deciding to defend Kasab.

Citing public interest, Advocate K B N Lam moved an application before the court alleging that Waghmare had accepted the brief from Harishchandra Shrivardhankar, who was a victim of the attack by the accused, Kasab, and his team members at Cama hospital in Mumbai on November 26 last year.

He is a prime witness in the case and was seeking compensation from the government for injuries sustained in his neck during the attack.

According to Lam, Waghmare had sought instructions from this witness and even signed a Vakalatnama to help him seek compensation. She had kept the court in dark about this development, Lam alleged.

He contended that Waghmare cannot accept the brief of accused Kasab if she had decided to appear for a witness in the same case.

Meanwhile, a thick security blanket has been thrown in and around a special court where the trial of Kasab and two other accused was to begin.

As many as 500 police personnel were deployed on the road leading to the special court set up inside Arthur Road Jail in central Mumbai. One side of the road was closed to traffic. Security personnel in plainclothes were seen moving around the court.