Wednesday, April 13 2005 16:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ahmedabad: Prime witness in the Best Bakery case, Zaheera Sheikh today (Apr 13, 2005) told the two-member Godhra Inquiry Commission that she had not filed any affidavit before it in May 2002.

Zaheera made the statement before the Commission after she was summoned for cross-examination on the affidavit reportedly filed by her.

The Commission provided Zaheera with a copy of the affidavit, following which she denied that it was filed by her but said the signature on the affidavit was hers.

Meanwhile, appearing before the Commission, Zaheera's advocate Atul Mistry filed an application seeking to postpone Zaheera's cross-examination till the matter reached a conclusive stage at the Supreme Court.

Filing the application, Mistry also sought time from the Commission, which has slated tomorrow as the date of hearing of the application.

Later talking to reporters, Mistry reiterated that the affidavit filed on May 20, 2002 was not Zaheera's.

When asked about the signature on the affidavit, Mistry said that it was possible that the signature could have been tampered with.

The affidavit, filed in Zaheera's name and with her signature in May 2002, had detailed description of the Best Bakery carnage.

The affidavit had also named some of the accused as part of the mob that had killed 14 people inside the Best Bakery at Hanuman Tekri in Vadodara city.

During the last hearing on March 21, the Commission had asked Zaheera, who had failed to appear before the Commission on four occasions, that it would issue a warrant against her if she failed to appear on April 13.