Bombay HC clears way for 26/11 handler Abu Jundal trial

The Bombay High Court on Monday, 3 November cleared the way for the long-delayed trial of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an alleged LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) handler accused of training the gunmen who carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attacks of 2008, by setting aside a trial court order that had directed authorities to hand over confidential documents to the accused.

Investigators allege that Ansari trained the attackers in Hindi, local etiquette and Mumbai’s geography to help them blend in and avoid suspicion. His voice is believed to be among those intercepted in control-room recordings from Pakistan's Karachi, from where handlers were accused of issuing real-time instructions to the attackers.

Ansari has claimed that he was arrested in Saudi Arabia and deported to India, and had sought documents to support this version. Challenging his version, Delhi Police have maintained that he was apprehended outside Delhi airport after returning to India. He was deported from Saudi Arabia in June 2012 following Indian authorities confirming his identity using DNA samples obtained from his family in Beed, Maharashtra.

A bench of Justice R.N. Laddha allowed a petition filed by Delhi Police and the civil aviation and external affairs ministries challenging the special court’s 2018 directive to furnish specific documents sought by Ansari. The trial had been stalled since that year pending adjudication of the plea.

Authorities argued that the documents Ansari sought related to confidential diplomatic and security communications and were not required for his defence.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that the trial court order was 'bad in law' and could compromise sensitive information. Upholding the petition, the high court quashed the earlier directive, enabling the trial to resume.

Ansari is accused of playing a key role in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, in which 10 heavily armed militants infiltrated the city by sea and targeted prominent locations including Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Oberoi Trident, Leopold Café and Nariman House. The assault continued for three days, killing 166 people, including foreign nationals, and injuring many others.

The high court’s order brings the trial one step closer to restarting after a prolonged pause. Ansari faces several terror-related cases filed by agencies including the Delhi Police, National Investigation Agency and police forces in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat.

In 2016, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, along with six others, by a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. He had earlier escaped police custody after that incident and reportedly fled to Bangladesh before travelling to Pakistan.

The only gunman captured alive in the 26/11 attacks, Ajmal Kasab, was convicted by a special court and hanged to death in 2012. Indian agencies have said Ansari admitted to training and coordinating with LeT commanders, including its founder Hafiz Saeed, during interrogation.

The resumption of the trial comes at a time when security agencies continue to pursue cases linked to transnational terror networks that used Indian soil as a target in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. The 26/11 case remains one of India’s most closely monitored terror investigations, involving cooperation between multiple intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

India has maintained that prosecution of handlers and planners located abroad remains pending, with New Delhi repeatedly urging Pakistan to take action against those accused of orchestrating the attacks.

The trial of Pakistan-based suspects has made little progress, and the case continues to shape India’s security and diplomatic posture in the region.

With PTI inputs