Reacting to a question on the sanction pending for the filing of chargesheets in an October 1998 assault case involving Christian missionaries in the Fatehgunj area of Vadodara, he said, ``That is something not within my knowledge. Talk to the police commissioner. But we don't withhold permission to cases forwarded by police commissioners and district police chiefs''.

Though Police Commissioner J Mahapatra refused to say anything on the subject on the grounds that he had been away in Gandhinagar all day, reliable sources said the government had decided to expedite the sanction in the case following a report in The Indian Express on Wednesday. A letter seeking government sanction for the serving of chargesheets on seven Bajrang Dal-Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists and a representative of Alpha Missionary Movement -- the two parties had been named in cross-FIRs -- had been sent to the Legal Cell of the Home Department in February 1999. However, no sanction has been granted, despite reminders.