The CBI received a shot in the arm after a UK court accepted its evidence against Naval War Room leak accused Ravi Shankaran for his extradition and fixed December 30 as the next date of hearing. Delivering its order on Monday, the Westminster Magistrate court district accepted the evidence submitted by the Crown Prosecution Services on behalf of India for extradition of 46-year-old Shankaran, the CBI said in New Delhi today.

The court will also take up other related matters on December 30. Shankaran, kin of former Naval Chief Arun Prakash, was arrested in London in May last year on the basis of an Interpol Red Corner notice secured against him by the CBI, which has pressed for his early extradition to India.

A retired Naval Commander, Shankaran was accused of smuggling sensitive classified information out of the Navy War Room and passing them to arms dealers.

The CBI had despatched a two-member team to London to assist British law officers in the extradition trial. It also furnished a 50-page reply to objections raised by the defence on emails submitted as evidence in the court.