A sessions court on Friday deferred till March five the framing of charges against Abdul Karim Telgi, prime accused in the fake stamp paper scam, and his two associates.

The court deferred the matter after the accused sought time to engage a lawyer.

Judge U D Salvi asked the accused to engage lawyers of their choice and come ready on the next date of hearing.

Telgi was brought to the court from Yerwada central jail in Pune amidst tight security and was taken back after the proceedings.

Telgi and his associates, Ramratan Soni and Sanjay Gaikwad, are charged with circulating counterfeit stamp papers in the market.

M R A Marg police in Mumbai had seized fake stamp papers from Soni and Gaikwad in 1995 and registered a case against the trio.

Later, the matter was transferred to the DCB, Crime Investigation Department. The case was then taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Telgi is also allegedly involved in several such cases of circulating counterfeit currency notes.