Rao exempted from court appearance

Rao exempted from court appearance

NEW DELHI (Reuter): An Indian court yesterday ruled that
former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao did not have to appear
at a court hearing next week in a criminal forgery case, United
News of India (UNI) said.

Rao's lawyers had argued that police could not protect against
the threat of attack by extremists if Rao appeared at a crowded
local court, and that the former prime minister could be
represented by counsel at the Oct. 14 hearing.

The news agency did not say whether the ruling exempting Rao
from having to appear in court would apply to any hearings in the
case held after Oct. 14. The order by chief magistrate Prem Kumar
was the second small victory for Rao yesterday.

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered the hearing into the seven-
year-old forgery case, as well as a hearing into a separate
criminal cheating case also involving Rao, shifted from a crowded
court to a more secure location.