Mumbai, May 06: Mumbai High Court has deferred till June 23 an appeal filed by Samajwadi Party's Maharashtra unit President and Rajya Sabha MP Abu Asim Azmi against a lower court order acquitting Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and two others in a defamation case. The high court had earlier granted special leave to Abu Asim to appeal against the acquittal of Thackeray, editor of Sena mouth-piece `Saamna', the newspaper's executive editor Sanjay Raut and its publisher Subhash Desai.

Azmi had sought special leave under Section 378 (4) of CRPC. Azmi was represented by Majeed Memon and Amin Solkar while Rajendra Shirodkar argued on behalf of Thackeray. Balkrishna Joshi was the counsel for Raut and Desai.

On May 2, 2002, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate N M Gosavi dismissed Azmi's complaint and acquitted Thackeray and others. The SP leader had filed a defamation case against Thackeray and others after the publication allegedly carried a defamatory story on July 1, 1998.

The news-story titled "ha Azmi kon?" (who is this Azmi?) alleged the SP leader's "hands were tainted with the blood of victims of Mumbai bomb blast of 1992-93". The report further charged that due to "money-power", Azmi had been acquitted from the blast case. Azmi's appeal came up for hearing last week before Justice Vijaya Tahilramani who deferred it till June 23.

Bureau Report