India, July 10 -- A Delhi court will next hear on July 21 a plea by US national Matthew Aaron VanDyke - an accused in an NIA case over an alleged terror conspiracy targeting India and involving ethnic armed groups in Myanmar - seeking permission to receive an "American-style diet" in Delhi's Tihar Jail. He has been unable to eat the "spicy, oily and deep-fried" food served in prison and has remained on a hunger strike for around 50 days, his lawyers have reportedly told the court.

At the latest hearing, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said it would not file a reply to the application, while Tihar Jail authorities sought time to respond. Special Judge Prashant Sharma, who hears NIA cases at the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi, l...