Akbaruddin Owaisi asked to appear before court on March 1

A city court today directed Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi to appear before it on March one in connection with a criminal case filed against him for alleged hate speech.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rajashekhar V Patil directed Owaisi to appear before the court on March one after he kept aside the application filed by him seeking exemption from appearing before the court on health grounds.

Owaisi's counsel Mohammad Jaffer Shah sought two weeks time for appearing before the court as his client has been advised bed rest. "He is carrying bullet injuries which he suffered a long time back. One bullet is still in his body and doctors have advised him bed rest due to mental stress," he argued.

On January 23, Patil had issued summons to Owaisi on two complaints lodged by advocates K Dilip Kumar and Dharmapal praying for prosecuting Owaisi for his hate speech in Andhra Pradesh last year.

The court had directed Andhra Pradesh DGP to produce the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader before it on February 23. Owaisi, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen's (MIM) floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, was arrested by the police in Hyderabad on January eight and was lodged jail in Adilabad District On February 15 the First Additional Sessions Court in Adilabad granted conditional bail to Owaisi.