Court grants Tihar authorities time to reply on Tahawwur Rana's plea

NEW DELHI: Hearing a plea by key 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana seeking phone conversations with his family, a Delhi court on Tuesday granted the the Tihar Jail authorities time to file a reply.Special NIA Judge Chander Jit Singh scheduled the next hearing for July 25. Earlier, court had allowed Rana to talk to his family. The hearing took place in-camera where Legal Aid Counsel's advocate Piyush Sachdev appeared for Rana.Meanwhile, the court allowed a plea by Rana seeking a bed and a mattress in prison. The jail authorities had opposed the plea submitting that, as per jail rules, inmates aged 65 or older can get bed. But Rana submitted he was 64 years and six months old and had medical issues. NIA informed court that it provided Rana's complete medical history to jail authorities. On July 9, after NIA filed a supplementary chargesheet, court extended his judicial custody till August 13.