Thursday, March 3 2005 20:39 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: In the first such instance of its kind, Abdul Kareem Telgi, alleged kingpin in the multi-crore fake stamp paper racket, was today (March 3, 2005) produced through videoconferencing before the Special Court in Bangalore from Yerwada central jail in Pune.

Telgi was produced digitally in the court trying the fake stamp paper cases at Parappana Agrahara prison here in connection with the trial of a crime registered at Madiwala police station in Bangalore, CBI said in a statement in Bangalore.

The trial proceedings in all other cases pertaining to Karnataka and Maharashtra would hereafter take place by the digital production of the accused persons who are in judicial custody, from their respective prisons, it said.

This, it said, was a path-breaking development where the accused persons are being produced digitally in the courts where the cases pertaining to them are being tried.

Since the issue affected the States of Maharashtra and Karnataka, it was taken up with the Governments of the two States which ensured that video-conferencing facilities was installed in jails where the accused have been lodged and in the courts where the cases are being tried, it said.