A Pakistani court has resumed hearing two petitions filed by authorities to seek permission to obtain voice samples of seven suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and to declare LeT operative Ajmal Kasab a “proclaimed offender” or fugitive.

A Division Bench of the Islamabad High Court had dismissed the petitions filed by the Federal Investigation Agency on September 14 as prosecutors had not pursued them for months.

The same Bench yesterday restored the two petitions following a request from the FIA.

One petition asked the court to direct authorities to obtain the voice samples of the seven Pakistani suspects, including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, so that they could be compared with samples provided by India of communications between the attackers and their Pakistan-based handlers.

The other petition asks the court to declare Kasab a fugitive to complete certain legal requirements that will help speed up the trial of the seven suspects by a Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court.

Investigators have said such a move will also help them complete their probe against the seven suspects.

The petitions were filed by the FIA in February.

As no one from the FIA appeared in court to pursue the petitions, the High Court had dismissed them last month.

During a hearing held yesterday, FIA Special Public Prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali told the High Court that prosecutors could not appear before it during several hearings for “certain reasons”. He did not give details.

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