Monday, July 18 2005 19:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: An high-powered committee set up to probe flip-flops of Best Bakery case key witness Zaheera Sheikh got nearly a month more to complete its inquiry as the Supreme Court today (July 18, 2005)allowed it time till August 16 to present its report on the controversy.

A Bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice H K Sema allowed the application filed by the Committee, which is headed by Registrar General of the Supreme Court B M Gupta, giving it time till mid-August to complete its inquiry.

The Gupta Committee, assisted by Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police Kanwaljeet Deol, had questioned Zaheera, social activist Teesta Shetalvad as well as Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) Member of Legislature Assembly (MLA) Madhu Srivastava and his relative Bhattu Srivastava on allegations relating to frequent change of statements by the Best Bakery case witness.

Faced with doubts created by Zaheera not only about her own statements but also about Setalvad's credentials, the Court, on January 10 this year, had ordered an inquiry to find out in four months as to who was telling the truth Zaheera or Teesta.

Conceding that the situation was 'delicate', the Bench comprising Justice Pasayat and Justice Sema had directed the Registrar General of the Apex Court to take the help of a Inspector General rank official from Delhi Police and conduct a probe into the basis of the statements of Zahira and the affidavits filed by Teesta in the Apex Court.