A designated Terrorism and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court on Thursday exempted ollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and 85 other accused in the 1993 bomb blast case from personal appearance for the day and asked them to appear on February 16.
Most of the accused did not appear on Thursday and their lawyer Farhana Shah urged for their exemption saying that they were not required for the hearing as extradited gangster Abu Salem was produced for remand.
Thirty other accused, lodged in central prison, were, however, produced before the court.
Sanjay is facing the charge of possessing an AK-56 rifle and destroying the weapon. The Central Bureau of Investigation has alleged that underworld don Abu Salem had gone to his residence along with other accused to deliver the weapon.
The CBI has examined 686 witnesses and the evidence has crossed 13,000 pages. The accused are charged with carrying out serial blasts on March 12, 1993, killing 256 people and injuring 713 others besides damaging property worth Rs 27 crore.