Supreme Court denies bail to Bangalore blast accused

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Abdul Naseer Maudany, arrested for his alleged role in the 2008 serial terror blasts in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Jaipur.

A bench of Justice P Sathasivam and Justice J Chelameswar, however, directed the Karnataka government to provide medical treatment to Maudany, founder of Peoples Democratic Party in Kerala, at the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala in Bangalore for his various health problems.

The apex court passed the directions for medical help to Maudany, while declining to entertain senior counsel Sushil Kumar's plea for interim bail to him to enable him undergo treatment at the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala in Kerala's Malappuram district.

Kumar pleaded that Maudany be released on bail as he was falsely implicated and cited his acquittal in the Coimbatore bomb blast case after nine-and-half years of incarceration as proof of his innocence.

He further submitted that the accused, who had to undergo amputation of one of his legs and was suffering from serious spinal problems and associated symptoms, was no threat to the law enforcing agencies.

Maudany's counsel Kumar's argument, however, failed to impress the court, which observed, "in a lighter vein, we would like to say, people need not do things physically. They can do wonders even while sitting at one place".

Senior counsel MN Krishnamani and standing counsel Anita Shenoy, appearing for Karnataka, strongly opposed Maudany's bail plea and treatment in Kerala on the ground that he was involved in a number of cases and posed a threat to security.

Krishnamani maintained that the accused need not go all the way to Kerala for the Kottakkal Ayurvedic treatment as the same was available in Bangalore itself and several other parts of the country.

At this, the bench recorded Krishnamani's statement and accordingly directed that the accused be given all necessary treatment within Bangalore Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala.

The bench, however, granted liberty to the accused to move the apex court for consideration of his interim bail plea on change of circumstances.

Earlier, Maudany's bail plea had been referred to Chief Justice of India SH Kapadia by a bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra for constituting another bench in view of differences between them on the issue.

While Justice Katju had appeared to be in favour of granting bail to Maudany, Justice Misra was strongly opposed to it in view of the serious allegations, that impinged upon national security.

Justice Katju had also taken the view that though the accused might be a 'jihadi' element, he reiterated that mere membership of a banned organisation does not make a person terrorist unless there is instigation for violence by him.

But with Justice Misra sticking to her stand that bail cannot be granted to Maudany, the bench decided to refer the matter to CJI.

Maudani is presently lodged in a Karnataka jail under judicial custody for his alleged involvement in the Bangalore serial bomb blast and similar incidents in Ahmedabad, Surat and Jaipur.

Two persons were killed and 20 injured when serial blasts had rocked Bangalore at nine locations in 2008. He was recently acquitted in the Coimbatore serial blast case, in which several persons had died.