Friday, September 23 2005 17:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: In a relief to French author Dominique Lapierre, the Supreme Court today (Sept 23, 2005) stayed the proceedings of a complaint case filed by Madhya Pradesh DGP Swaraj Puri who co-authored a book with him on Bhopal Gas disaster.

A Bench comprising Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P P Naolekar issued notices to Puri and Javier Moro, France- based publisher of the book, "It was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal" on a plea by Lapierre and Delhi-based publisher Shekhar Malhotra seeking transfer of the complaint case outside Madhya Pradesh.

In the petition before the Apex Court, they said Puri was holding a position in the state by which he could influence the witnesses in the trial of the case.

"It will not be possible to have just and fair trial and as such it would be in the interest of justice that the complaint is transferred to a competent court outside the state of Madhya Pradesh," the French author said.

Puri had filed a criminal complaint against Lapierre and Malhotra in a Jabalpur Court, which had issued summons to the publisher to appear before it on September 26.

The DGP in his complaint had alleged that the French writer has not portrayed the incident and role of the police in the right perspective.

Besides, a civil complaint has also been filed by Puri seeking to restrain the publishers from printing, selling and circulating the book.

The Jabalpur Court had also issued notices to the author and publisher on a petition by the police officer demanding a compensation to the tune of 20 million dollars.