India, Aug. 8 -- A special court hearing the third phase of the 1993 Bombay serial blasts case has allowed the prosecution to rely on witness testimonies recorded decades ago against seven accused who were arrested years after the main trial, including alleged conspirator Mohammed Farooq Yasin Mansoor alias Farooq Takla.

The order clears a crucial procedural hurdle for the prosecution in one of India's longest-running terror trials. The March 12, 1993 serial blasts across Bombay killed 257 people and injured around 1,400.

Special Judge V D Kedar ruled that the conditions under section 299 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) had been satisfied, allowing evidence recorded in the absence of absconding accused to be used against them a...