Veerappan -- SC defers hearing till Oct 11
AGENCIES

NEW DELHI/CHENNAI, SEPT 19: Uncertainty over the release of 51 associates of forest brigand Veerappan continued as the Supreme Court today deferred hearing of the case till October 11. This is likely to have a bearing on the release of Kannada film icon Rajkumar taken hostage by the bandit 50 days back.

Accepting the request of Solicitor-General Harish Salve, who appeared for the Karantaka government, a three-judge bench headed by Justice S P Bharucha fixed hearing of the petition filed by retired police officer Abdul Karim on October 11, the earliest date convenient for the court to take up the case.

The court granted Union government time till tomorrow to file its reply to a PIL moved by B L Wadhera on the issue.

However, the bench rejected pleas of some counsels to allow the 51 accused, against whom the state government had withdrawn TADA charges, to file bail applications before trial courts during pendency of Karim's petition.

It was on the petition of Abdul Karim, father of a policeman killed by veerappan, that the court had, on September 1, indefinitely stayed the release of Veerappan's associates while criticising the karnataka government for succumbing to illegal demands of the bandit.

In wake of the apex court's postponment of the hearing, official emissary R.R. Gopal is unlikely to embark on his fourth mission to the forest.

Tamil Nadu Chief minister M. Karunanidhi, who had stated last evening that Gopal would go into the woods in a day or two, is to review the situation later this evening following the developments and take a final decision on the latter's trip, official sources said.

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