Tuesday, April 25 2006 17:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: A sessions court today (Apr 25, 2006) informed Zaheera Shaikh and her family members the summary of charges proposed against them for tendering false evidence during the re-trial of Best bakery case here and asked them to appear on April 27 for recording their plea.

The judge Abhay Thipsay said if Zaheera and others plead guilty on April 27 the summary proceedings for giving false evidence would begin on the same day but if they plead not guilty then the court would give them time for defence and fixa date for trial to be held later.

The judge, who had conducted the retrial in Best bakery case, told Zaheera that she had falsely stated in the courtthat she had not lodged the First Information Report (FIR) and that she was unaware about the document (FIR) although it bore her signature.

The judge also told Zaheera that she had falsely stated before him during the re-trial that she had not told Vadodara court earlier about talking to police regarding the Best bakery incident. He referred to Vadodara court proceedings hich indicated that she had indeed told police about it.

Thipsay further told Zaheera that she had falsely stated before the Mumbai court during re-trial that she was not aware about the outcome of verdict of Vadodara court which had acquitted the accused in Best bakery case as she and other witnesses had turned hostile.

He said that Zaheera had given a false statement that she did not learn about what happened to the case after it was over in Vadodara court and she had also falsely feigned ignorance about why the case was being tried again in Mumbai.