A special NIA court had to defer its verdict that was expected to be pronounced on March 11 in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case after a last-minute application by a Pakistani woman. In a surprise plea, the woman moved the anti-terror court for directions for examination of the blast eyewitnesses from Pakistan.

The court was expected to deliver the verdict in the case relating to the blast in the cross-border train in which 68 people - mostly Pakistani nationals - were killed.

Special Judge Jagdeep Singh listed the application of the Pakistani woman Rahila Wakeel for hearing on March 14.

Wakeel, the daughter of blast victim Muhammad Wakeel of Dhingrawali village in Hafizabad district of Pakistan, filed the application through her Indian counsel Momin Malik, who told the court that he received his client’s application through email.

The woman sought examination of the blast eyewitnesses from her country, contending that her co-nationals either did not receive proper summonses from the court or were denied visas by authorities to appear before it.

She pleaded that all eyewitnesses to the case from her country were ready to appear before the court for their depositions and they should be examined in the interest of justice.

The judge asked the petitioner’s counsel why the plea was made at the fag end of the trial, reminding him that several chances were given to all the 13 Pakistani witnesses to record their statements before the court.

“The court has posted the matter for March 14 after the petition was filed by an advocate on behalf of the Pakistani woman,” said NIA counsel Rajan Malhotra. He said the NIA would give its reply on March 14.

The blast in Samjhauta Express occurred near Panipat in Haryana on February 18, 2007, when the train was on its way to Attari in Amritsar, the last railway station on the Indian side. The blast had ripped apart two coaches.

After the incident, Haryana police registered a case, but the probe was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in July 2010.

After its probe, the NIA filed a chargesheet in the case in June 2011, indicting eight persons for their alleged roles in the terror attack.

Of the eight persons, Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan and Rajinder Chaudhary appeared before the court and faced trial.

Blast mastermind Sunil Joshi was shot and killed near his home in Madhya Pradesh in December 2007, while three other accused - Ramchandra Kalsangra, Sandeep Dange and Amit - could be never apprehended and were declared proclaimed offenders.

Aseemanand is out on bail while three others are still in judicial custody.

NIA had charged the accused with murder and criminal conspiracy, besides other relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act and the Railways Act.

In its probe, the NIA had concluded that the accused were upset with terror attacks on Hindu temples - Akshardham (Gujarat), Raghunath Mandir (Jammu) and Sankat Mochan Mandir (Varanasi).

They had conspired together to trigger the blast in the Pak-bound train, largely carrying Pakistani nationals, to avenge the spate of terror attacks in various temples, it contended.

As per the NIA probe, the accused were given training at Madhya Pradesh and Faridabad in Haryana for making bombs and firing pistols.

The NIA chargesheet dubbed Joshi as the mastermind of the blast plot with active help of the other accused, including Aseemanand.

The explosives were stuffed in suitcases, which were planted in the train by Lokesh, Rajinder, Kamal and Amit, said the NIA.