A Special court on Friday took strong note of the absence of five of the seven accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case as the framing of charges had to be deferred to October 30.

Judge Vinod Padalkar, presiding over the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court that is handling the case, cautioned the accused against delaying the proceedings. He took strong exception to the fact that only two accused, Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit and Sameer Kulkarni, were present in the court.