Zaheera Shaikh, prime witness in the Best Bakery case, will be produced before a Sessions Court in Mumbai on March 29 to reply to show cause notices issued to her and others for making false averments during the retrial.

The sessions court has detained Zaheera in custody after she surrendered recently, in keeping with a Supreme Court order sentencing her to one year jail for contempt of court.

The court has also summoned Zaheera's mother Sahrunissa, sister Sahira and brothers Nassibullah and Nafitullah. However, Nafitullah passed away recently, while others have been directed to appear on March 29 to answer the show cause notices issued to them for perjury.

Zaheera and Nasibullah had, the last time, asked for time to reply to show cause notices, pleading that they did not have the copy of the Best Bakery judgement pronounced on February 24, when the judge had pulled them up for making false averments during the retrial.

The judge told Zaheera and her brother that they would be furnished a copy of the judgement on March 27 and asked them to appear along with their family members on March 29. The court had also exempted Sahrunissa and Sahira from appearance on March 20 but asked them to appear on March 29.

Complete coverage: The Gujarat riots