Hubli: A Hubli court today (Oct 14, 2004) adjourned to November 6 further hearing on four criminal revision petitions challenging the discharge of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader Uma Bharti and others in a decade-old criminal case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge, John Michael D'Cunha, also ordered issuance of notices to all the 23 respondents in the case.

Four social activists, including journalist Gowri Lankesh, have filed the petitions challenging the discharge of Bharti and others by the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Mohammed Ismail.

The JMFC had also dismissed the applications filed by the activists opposing the withdrawal of cases against Bharti and others.

Uma Bharti, who was in judicial custody, was released on September 6 after the JMFC in Hubli discharged her in the case that had put the saffron party and the Congress on a path of confrontation.

Bharti and others were charged for various offences, including attempt to murder and rioting in connection with the violence that broke out during the BJP-led stir for hoisting the national flag at Idgah Maidan in Hubli in 1994.