A Mumbai Sessions Court has directed the defence in the Pramod Mahajan murder trial to procure a handset similar to the one possessed by the late BJP leader for demonstrating how an SMS can be altered or tampered with.If a similar handset cannot be obtained, the demonstration will have to be carried out with Mahajan's cellphone, which is in the court's custody, Sessions Judge S P Davare said.The hearing in the case has been adjourned till November 16.Earlier in the day, the prosecution insisted that a demonstration should be carried out using the same or an identical instrument.Main accused - Pravin Mahajan's lawyer Harshad Ponda had earlier claimed that an SMS in phone memory could be altered.A threatening SMS allegedly sent by Pravin to his elder brother and senior BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, prior to the attack on the latter in April last year is part of the evidence on which the prosecution is relying.Defence witness Hari Krishna, a software expert, said he was ready to demonstrate how SMS could be altered, but Public Prosecutor Nitin Pradhan took objection to the same and pointed out that Krishna was using a phone with a different software.He said the instrument must be the same or an identical one.
