Twenty-three people who were acquitted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case have been formally set free.

Three of the accused -- Hanifa Abdul Razak Memon, matriach of the Memon family who is physically unfit, Devidas Ghule and Mohammed Ahmed Mansoor Shoaib Ahmed -- were, however, not present in the court despite being previously intimated.

Those set free include Suleiman Memon, brother of prime accused Tiger Memon and Raheen Memon, wife of another accused Yakub Memon.

The others are Ashfaq Havaldar, Moinuddin Abdul Qadar, Shakeel Shahabuddin Shaikh, Anant Bhoir, Fasal Rehman Abdul Khan, Ismail Patel, Krishna Mokal, Krishna Pingle, Manohar More, Mansoor Ahmed Qureshi, Ruksana Zariwala, Ismail Qadri, Shaikh Babulal Kasam Shaikh, Sultan-e-Romgul, Ajay Marwah, Abdul Aziz Qadar, Mohammed Iqbal Ibrahim and Mohammed Ibrahim Khan.

All the 123 accused, including actor Sanjay Dutt, who is among the 100 convicted in the case, had been summoned to the court on Wednesday.