Special TADA judge P D Kode today denied Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Pandey leave to absent himself from examination on the grounds that he had to go to the United States for further studies.

The judge later held back Pandey's examination till the testimony of next witness DCP S P Yadav was over. But the judge ordered that Pandey be present in the court during the proceedings.

The judge criticised the prosecution for not informing the court earlier of the DCP's unavailability. He admonished special public prosecutor S P Belgal for delaying the trial's proceedings by such methods. ``You have wasted 35 minutes for this,'' he added. Advocate Belgal had asked for the postponement of DCP Pandey's examination on the grounds that he was scheduled to leave for US for further studies on a Central government assignment on July 5, 1997. He said the DCP would be available for examination during a series of three vacations while studying. The defence counsel, advocate Majeed Memon argued the prosecution should have taken the court into confidence earlier and made provisions to examine the witness before he went abroad. He added that with several persons languishing in custody, the court's proceedings should not be held in abeyance for personal reasons.

``If the prosecution had informed us earlier, we would not have objected,'' he said.

2 infants die in house collapse

Two infants were killed on the spot and four others including three women were seriously injured when the roof of a house collapsed in Behrampada, north west Mumbai early on Tuesday.

The children were identified as Niraz Shaikh and Riyaz Shaikh, both two-year-old, the police revealed. The building was in a dilapidated condition, fire brigade sources said. The injured have been identified as - Murappa Ahmed (35), Saroj Shaikh (18), Halima Shaikh (30) and Romina Shaikh (14), police said adding that all of them have been admitted to the nearby Bhabha hospital.

Their condition was reported to be `critical', the sources added.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.