India, Sept. 20 -- Fifteen years after he was cleared of all charges in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case, Fahim Ansari is still battling the shadow of suspicion. On Friday, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court that his application for a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) - a requirement to drive a commercial auto-rickshaw - had been turned down because he continues to be under watch for suspected links with a banned terror outfit.

"There is a confidential report as per which Ansari is still under watch on suspicion that he is a member of a banned terror outfit," public prosecutor Mankhuwar Deshmukh told a division bench of chief justice Shree Chandrashekhar and justice Gautam Ankhad.

Ansari, 51, has been unemployed ...