The court of judge Shubham Verma has fixed August 28 for the next hearing. The case is now at the final stage of trial, senior advocate Rudra Pratap alias Madan Singh said.
The final witness, investigating officer Praveen Yadav, was cross-examined on Friday. He had been summoned again after discrepancies were noticed in his earlier statement, the counsel said.
The case was registered at Bandhua Kala police station in connection for alleged violation of the model code of conduct during the 2021 panchayat elections.
According to the prosecution, an unauthorised meeting was organised on April 13, 2021, in Hasanpur village under Bandhua Kala police station in support of district panchayat member candidate Salma Begum.
Police had registered a case against Singh, 12 named persons and 45 unidentified supporters. After investigation, a charge sheet was filed against 11 persons, including Maqsood Ansari, Salim Ansari and Jagdish Yadav.
The other accused had already secured bail. Singh, who had repeatedly remained absent during the proceedings, was issued a bailable warrant by the court. He surrendered in July 2024 and was subsequently released on furnishing two bail bonds of Rs 20,000 each along with a personal bond.
The hearing was deferred on Thursday after the investigating officer, who was to appear as the final witness, failed to turn up.
