Zaheera Sheikh, the prime witness in the Best Bakery case, and her two brothers are likely to appear before a special court in Mumbai on Wednesday in response to the summons served to them in Gujarat, prosecution sources said on Tuesday.
This is the second time that Zaheera and her brothers have been summoned by the court.
On November 3, Zaheera had made a statement before the Vadodara collector saying she was being "pressurised" by social activist Teesta Setalvad to identify innocent persons as accused in the Mumbai court conducting a re-trial of the case.
She also said her original testimony before the fast-track court in Gujarat, wherein she had failed to recognise any of the accused, was true. Zaheera alleged in the affidavit that she was forcibly taken to Mumbai by some locals at the behest of Setalvad and also made to sign documents in English. She also alleged that Setalvad had "threatened her with dire consequences" if she did not cooperate.
The Supreme Court had ordered retrial of the case in Mumbai, as Zaheera had claimed that she had deposed before the trial court out of fear. Setalvad had then stood behind Zaheera in her fight for justice.
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