The court observed that the charges levelled against the three accused, who include lone arrested terrorist Ajmal Kasab, are so serious they can be tried only by a sessions court. Judge M L Tahilyani will preside over the case.

Kasab and the other accused, Fahim Ansari and Sabbaudin Ahmed, are charged under various sections including waging war against the country, murder and attempted murder under the Indian Penal Code, Customs Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Foreigners Act, Passport Act. The maximum punishment for these offences is life imprisonment or death, which can be pronounced by a magistrate.

So far, because of security concerns, metropolitan magistrate N N Shrimangle had ordered the remands of all three accused after visiting the lockup. On Monday he ordered, “I am committing the case to sessions for trial and the next date for hearing is March 23, at the sessions court inside Arthur Road Jail.”

He informed the three accused of the order through a video conference.

The three accused had wanted a copy of the 11,000-page chargesheet in Urdu, on the ground that they could not read the present versions in English, Marathi and Hindi. The court rejected the plea.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said, “It was a lame attempt by the accused to delay the trial as they knew that it would be a difficult task for the police to translate the copies. Further, under Section 272 of the Criminal Procedure Code and several government resolutions, Marathi and English are the languages of the state’s criminal courts except the Bombay High Court.” As per section 207 of the CrPC, he added, the prosecution has to provide the accused only a copy of the chargesheet, not a translated version.

The court accepted Nikam’s arguments and directed defence lawyer Ejaz Naqvi, appearing for Ansari and Ahmed, to file a fresh plea before the sessions court if he wished.