Prosecutor Joe Bellows told the court yesterday that Balwant Singh Bhandher would be in the best position to provide evidence about conflicting testimony on the date of a meeting of alleged Air-India co-conspirators in Seattle shortly before the disaster on June 23, 1985.

The defence had asked the court to consider documents that supported their position. Mr. Bellows said he wanted the judge to know that Mr. Bhandher "is around to give evidence."

As is customary in murder trials, the prosecution has no idea who the defence intends to call.

However, if the defence does not call Mr. Bhandher, the judge should know that he "is not out of the country, he is alive," Mr. Bellows said.

Mr. Bhandher is one of several people who have been linked to the Air-India conspiracy in testimony during the trial but who have never been asked to respond in court to the allegations.

Narinder Singh Gill, a central witness in the prosecution's case, testified last fall that defendants Ripudaman Singh Malik, Ajaib Singh Bagri, Mr. Bhandher and others were in Seattle together around the time of the disaster.

Another key witness, who cannot under court order be identified, said the Seattle meeting was held before the Air-India disaster. She also said Mr. Bhandher, Mr. Bagri and others took suitcases with explosives to the airport in Mr. Bhandher's brown van.

The witness said she was told about the conspiracy by Mr. Malik.

The prosecution did not call Mr. Bhandher to testify.

"We have an obligation to prove the case [against Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri]. If a witness is not necessary to prove the case, there is no necessity to call the witness," Geoff Gaul, a spokesman for the prosecution, said in an interview outside court.

However, the defence team for Mr. Malik attempted to raise doubts about the date of the Seattle meeting by referring to Mr. Bhandher and his children.

Mr. Gill had told the court he drove from Calgary to Seattle with Mr. Bhandher, his wife and his children and returned to Calgary 10 days later.

School records showed that the children missed only one day of school between April 1, 1985, and the end of the school term on June 28, 1985, a Calgary school board employee told the court.

The Seattle meeting -- if there was a meeting -- must have been after June 28, defence lawyer David Crossin said.

If Mr. Bhandher were called as a defence witness, the prosecution would be entitled to cross-examine him, Mr. Gaul said. The prosecution could question him on any issues that are relevant, he also said.

Mr. Crossin declined to indicate this week who will be called as a witness for the defence. He also would not reveal whether Mr. Malik would testify.

Mr. Malik and Mr. Bagri face murder charges in the deaths of 329 people in the mid-air bombing of Air-India Flight 182 and the deaths of two baggage handlers in an explosion at Tokyo's Narita Airport.