Thursday, December 23 2004 22:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Zaheera Sheikh, the prime witness in the Best bakery re-trial, today (Dec 23, 2004) told the special court that she did not know BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) MLA Madhu Shrivastav and that she had never met him.

Asked about her yesterday's (Dec 21, 2004) address to media and what she had stated before them, Zaheera said that she did not do it herself but was forced to speak as the mediapersons fired questions at her as soon as she came out of the court.

"At first I did not understand anything, then I asked them to tell me what they were talking about (allegations of her having received money from Shrivastav) and later I denied it," Zaheera said while adding that she had never seen the MLA.

Zaheera was today further cross-examined by the special public prosecutor Manjula Rao. Zaheera who had earlier said that she could read and write in Gujarati, today, clarified that she though she could read and write Gujarati, she was not fluent.

This clarification came after her initial denial over the matter. On her first day of deposition, the court had recorded her evidence where she had stated that she could read and write in Gujarati but today she said that she could not do it "properly."