Rana acquittal: US verdict foils Delhi's plan to implead itself in lawsuit
Vishwa Mohan, TNN
Jun 11, 2011, 02.06am IST
NEW DELHI: Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana's acquittal in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case in the US appears to have poured cold water on India's "possible" move to implead itself as a party to the lawsuit in a New York court against Pakistani spy agency ISI and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The lawsuit, filed in November last year by relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka who were killed by Lashkar gunmen at Chabad House in the attack, has accused the ISI of aiding and abetting the LeT in killing 166 people including six American citizens.
Though the jury in Chicago on Thursday convicted Rana for "providing material support to the LeT"', officials involved in ongoing consultations to taken a call on India's move said his acquittal in the 26/11 case would block any effort to substantiate the point raised in the lawsuit against ISI with respect to its direct role in the Mumbai carnage.
An official said, "Final decision has not yet been taken and it now appears that India will, most probably, have to rely on its back-channel efforts to support the relatives of victims."
Different agencies and law officers had been engaged in consultations over various aspects of the lawsuit, specifically whether India would be benefited by impleading itself in the lawsuit or not. The matter came to the fore last month when home secretary G K Pillai, in an interview to TOI, spoke about the possibility, saying the decision was a "political call".
Pillai had said, "I think, if Rana gets convicted then you are establishing credibility of Headley's claim of an ISI linkage. Then those records will go to the New York court case... that is where the pressure will come... and now if you want to get involved, that is really a political call... (because) on the one hand you said that you want to be friends with Pakistan... and then you want a case against Pakistan."
An official said, "Since Rana is not convicted, the possible move is now fraught with uncertainty. His conviction on the count of 'providing material support to the LeT' may not serve any purpose as it is not linked to the Mumbai terror attack."
Sources said law officers were, however, examining details of the lawsuit in light of such apprehensions after Rana's acquittal. Consultations are also going on in view of India's position of engaging Pakistan through talks at various levels, they added.
The lawsuit in the New York court said, "The ISI has long nurtured and used international terrorist groups, including the LeT, to accomplish its goals and has provided material support to the LeT and other international terrorist groups'. The lawsuit referred to the disclosure made by American-Pakistani Lashkar terrorist Headley and blamed top ISI officials – including its chief major general Ahmed Shuja Pasha -- for providing "critical planning, material support, control and coordination of the attacks (26/11).".................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTEvMDYvMTEjQXIwMTMwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Vishwa Mohan, TNN
Jun 11, 2011, 02.06am IST
NEW DELHI: Canadian Tahawwur Hussain Rana's acquittal in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case in the US appears to have poured cold water on India's "possible" move to implead itself as a party to the lawsuit in a New York court against Pakistani spy agency ISI and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The lawsuit, filed in November last year by relatives of Rabbi Gavriel Noah Holtzberg and his wife Rivka who were killed by Lashkar gunmen at Chabad House in the attack, has accused the ISI of aiding and abetting the LeT in killing 166 people including six American citizens.
Though the jury in Chicago on Thursday convicted Rana for "providing material support to the LeT"', officials involved in ongoing consultations to taken a call on India's move said his acquittal in the 26/11 case would block any effort to substantiate the point raised in the lawsuit against ISI with respect to its direct role in the Mumbai carnage.
An official said, "Final decision has not yet been taken and it now appears that India will, most probably, have to rely on its back-channel efforts to support the relatives of victims."
Different agencies and law officers had been engaged in consultations over various aspects of the lawsuit, specifically whether India would be benefited by impleading itself in the lawsuit or not. The matter came to the fore last month when home secretary G K Pillai, in an interview to TOI, spoke about the possibility, saying the decision was a "political call".
Pillai had said, "I think, if Rana gets convicted then you are establishing credibility of Headley's claim of an ISI linkage. Then those records will go to the New York court case... that is where the pressure will come... and now if you want to get involved, that is really a political call... (because) on the one hand you said that you want to be friends with Pakistan... and then you want a case against Pakistan."
An official said, "Since Rana is not convicted, the possible move is now fraught with uncertainty. His conviction on the count of 'providing material support to the LeT' may not serve any purpose as it is not linked to the Mumbai terror attack."
Sources said law officers were, however, examining details of the lawsuit in light of such apprehensions after Rana's acquittal. Consultations are also going on in view of India's position of engaging Pakistan through talks at various levels, they added.
The lawsuit in the New York court said, "The ISI has long nurtured and used international terrorist groups, including the LeT, to accomplish its goals and has provided material support to the LeT and other international terrorist groups'. The lawsuit referred to the disclosure made by American-Pakistani Lashkar terrorist Headley and blamed top ISI officials – including its chief major general Ahmed Shuja Pasha -- for providing "critical planning, material support, control and coordination of the attacks (26/11).".................http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=Q0FQLzIwMTEvMDYvMTEjQXIwMTMwMQ==&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
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