Ma’dani gets one-month bail on health grounds

By Ashraf Padanna/Thiruvananthapuram

The Supreme Court yesterday granted one-month bail to cleric-turned politician Abdul Nasar Ma’dani, who has been lodged in a Bangalore jail for the past three years and 11 months for alleged involvement in the 2008 blasts in the city.

“While granting the bail on health grounds, the court said Ma’dani could make an application for extension after one month and if there was any complaint, then it too would be examined,” said Haris Beeran, one of the lawyers handling the case.

Ma’dani is however not allowed to leave the city or visit his home state of Kerala from where he was arrested by Bangalore police with the support of the local police.

The Forum for Justice to Ma’dani, a group headed by former MP Dr Sebastian Paul and backed by eminent jurist V R Krishna Iyer, has been campaigning for Ma’dani’s release and offering legal aid since his arrest. The forum stressed that the case against Ma’dani was fabricated.

Ma’dani was acquitted in the Coimbatore blasts case in 2008 after being imprisoned for nine years and 10 months without bail as the trial progressed at a snail’s pace.

The Supreme Court bench headed by J Chelameshar Madani also gave the Karnataka government liberty to take all measures, including putting him under surveillance, to ensure that Ma’dani does not try to get in touch with witnesses in the case.

Since his arrest from his Anwarssery headquarters, key witnesses in the case have said the police manipulated their statements. Ma’dani is among the 31 defendants in the case.

The court observed that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman is an under-trial prisoner who was suffering from various ailments, including diabetes and vision-threatening ailment in both eyes.

Arrested on August 17, 2010, and charged under stringent anti-terrorist law with masterminding the blasts that killed a woman,  the 49-year-old got a brief parole last year to attend his daughter’s marriage.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala welcomed the decision saying the state did not approve of indefinite imprisonment of anybody before the crime against him is proven.

“I welcome the verdict. I feel it’s not fair to put behind bars a scholar like Ma’adani, especially during this holy month,” said Chennithala.

Chandy had earlier taken up the issue with his Karnataka counterpart, Siddaramaiah, and Karnataka Home Minister, K J George. They, however, said they could not do anything as the case registered during the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation was before the court.

Ma’dani’s wife Soofiya Ma’dani and ailing father, Abdul Samad, thanked rights activists who worked for his release.