Ajmal kasab’s all smiles and yawns in jail

The convicted Pakistani has been allowed to stay away from watching the proceedings on video conference if he so wishes. On Thursday morning, Kasab was back with his impish grin and his

fidgety ways. Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, was back in Arthur Road prison’s video conference room to follow the proceedings in the confirmation of his death sentence, however, only for a

little over half an hour. The convicted Pakistani has been allowed to stay away from watching the proceedings on video conference if he so wishes. On Thursday morning, Kasab was back with

his impish grin and his fidgety ways. Kasab, who attended the court proceedings for about 40 minutes, was seen on the plasma TV screen in court room 49 smiling, yawning and parting his hair.

He also sat with one of his legs up on the chair but was asked to straighten up by the jail officials.  Justices Ranjana Desai and RV More had called the Arthur Road jail superintendent

Rajendra Dhamane on Thursday morning. He was called after Kasab’s lawyer Amin Solkar told the court that he could not meet Kasab earlier this week as he reached only after closing time in

jail. The court told Solkar that he must inform the court if he wants to meet Kasab and the court can make adjustments for him. Dhamane said that the prison rules cannot be relaxed in this

case, however, if Solkar comes within the jail visiting hours, he would be allowed to meet Kasab and will also be given an additional 15 minutes if required. Special public prosecutor Ujjwal

Nikam read the witness account of constable Arun Jadhav who witnessed the bloody gun battle outside Cama Hospital in which three top police officers Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay

Salaskar were killed. “He is the only survivor... It is a miracle,” Desai remarked. Meanwhile, co-accused Faheem Ansari who was acquitted by the trial court, sought the court’s permission to

seek a dentist’s treatment at the St George Hospital. The court has allowed his application. Ansari and another accused Sabauddin Ahmed, who were acquitted, were brought to Mumbai from a

prison in Uttar Pradesh after the state government filed an appeal challenging their acquittal.