On Friday 19 March 2010, Shaukat Hussain Ghauri contended the Ashfak Bhavnagari and Jalal Patel (who appeared as prosecution witnesses) were also supporting terrorist activities, were present during the meetings in Saudi Arabia and had collected monies for the Akshardham attack. However, the Gujarat High Court rejected Ghauri's plea because the advocate for the State highlighted that under Section 50 of the POTA, which was applicable in the Akshardham case, the designated judge had no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the alleged involvement of witnesses in the attack. Furthermore, no inference about their involvement in terrorist activity could be made.