There has been a further development in the case brought by US authorities against file-sharing site Megaupload’s founder, Kim Dotcom.

Earlier this week we blogged about Mr Dotcom’s legal team accusing the US government of withholding materials seized in the January raid on the New Zealander’s Auckland mansion that are required by the defence team in order to be fully prepared for court appearances.

The New Zealand District Court’s Judge David Harvey has said local laws stipulate that any extradition hearing must be “properly informed”. He continued by saying that if the materials weren’t available to both parties then the case would be “one-sided” and merely an “administrative” affair.

Torrentfreak have published the 81-page ruling in which the judge made note of the fact that much of the evidence against Kim Dotcom was “contained on their computer equipment which was seized as a result of the activities of January 2012″.

In conclusion, the judge ruled that the relevant material(s) must be disclosed by June 19th (the extradition hearing is scheduled for August this year) so that the court could consider the plausibility of the charges being faced by the Megaupload founder, as this particular charge will have significant implications on other accusations.

In a separate ruling issued by the judge, Kim Dotcom is no longer considered a flight risk, which means he can now return to his rented mansion that had previously been considered unsuitable for someone being electronically monitored.