A government prosecutor said on Monday he had been forced to delay his appeal against a court order which grants bail to the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.
A judge in an Islamabad anti-terror court last week granted bail to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused over the siege on India’s commercial capital that left 166 people dead and was blamed on the banned militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
The bail decision triggered a furious response from New Delhi and prosecutors in Pakistan swiftly announced they would appeal against it.
The challenge was due to be filed on Monday but government prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry had been unable to proceed.
“I have not yet received a copy of the court (bail) order, which is essential to complete legal formalities,” Chaudhry told.
He said he would challenge the order after examining the bail order.
Lakhvi remains in custody in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi after the authorities ordered his detention — following the court’s bail decision — under public order laws.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told lawmakers last week that the bail order came “as a shock to all those who believe in humanity world over”.
It took the authorities three days to regain full control of Mumbai and New Delhi has long said there is evidence that “official agencies” in Pakistan were involved in plotting the attack.
