Special Judge M L Tahilyani on Monday said he would be going through the list of lawyers on the panel and taking a decision on the next date of hearing, March 30.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam informed the court he would assist the court by submitting a detailed report of the Maharashtra State Legal Services Rules, 1998, which lays down rules for the appointment of lawyers for the accused.

He further requested the court that “as Kasab had earlier written to the Pakistan Consulate seeking legal help during the trial the court should, on the next remand date, ask him whether he is keen on pursuing his plea”.

Now, the possibility of the appointment of the three defense lawyers, two from Mumbai and one from Kolkata, who had approached the Mumbai police seeking to defend Kasab, has been ruled out because they are not on the legal aid panel at the sessions court.

Kasab had also informed the court that he couldn’t afford legal services during the trial on his own, which led the court to decide on appointing a lawyer for him from the panel.

The panel, which has around 30 lawyers, is divided into two, one dealing with murder cases and the second with other cases. The legal aid lawyer gets Rs 900 as fee for the entire case. Even if a trial goes on for years, the fee remains the same.