Gutka baron Joshi's plea adjourned

The Bombay high court on Thursday adjourned to March 16 the hearing on gutka baron J M Joshi's petition seeking the quashing of the non-bailable warrants against him.

Joshi arrived from the United Arab Emirates on February 23 and moved the Bombay high court the next day seeking an extension of the stay on the warrants.

The court had rejected his plea. It gave the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the case, a free hand.

The CBI informed the high court on Thursday that a warrant against the Goa gutka owner had been executed and they had also questioned him for his alleged links with the underworld.

Justice R M S Khandeparkar and P V Kakade said only the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court could decide on Joshi's plea.

The CBI has questioned him on four occasions since his return.

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Dhariwal, are suspected to have helped gangster Dawaood Ibrahim's brother Anees Ibrahim set up a gutka manufacturing plant in Karachi, Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Joshi appeared before the CBI in Delhi and is likely to undergo a lie-detection test.

The officers of the Special Crime Branch of CBI are questioning him.

Joshi has denied he had ever visited Karachi or met Dawood Ibrahim, CBI sources said.