New Delhi, Nov 19: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the State government to shift Abdul Nasser Ma'adani, the leader of Kerala's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who is in jail as an accused in the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts, to Manipal Hospital for treatment.
The direction came after Ma'adani's counsel, Prashant Bhushan, stressed that the former was suffering from multiple diseases. The government wanted to shift him to Victoria Hospital but fell in line on the court's prodding.
A bench of Justices H L?Gokhale and J Chelameswar also permitted Ma'adani's immediate family members to visit him during the course of his treatment. In October, the court had directed that he be shifted to Dr Agarwal's Eye Hospital in Bangalore for urgent operation. The court, however, said the order was subject to Manipal Hospital, Bangalore, agreeing to admit Ma'adani. The government should bear the cost of treatment, it added.
Earlier, Bhushan invoked the example of Arvind Kejriwal before the court, saying that the 56 cases pending against Ma'adani were part of a “political conspiracy”. He argued that Ma'adani was the “target of political conspiracy” much the same way Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener, had been. As many as nine criminal cases are pending against the latter. Interestingly, Bhushan was a prominent member of Team Anna, of which Kejriwal was an integral part.
The counsel for government of Karnataka, however, opposed Ma'adani's bail plea, claiming that the latter had “links” with such organisations as SIMI and Indian Mujahideen. He stressed that Ma'adani was “part of a larger conspiracy” as the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts followed similar incidents in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi. Bhushan disputed the claim, saying that all the cases were registered against Ma'adani as he was “a political person like Kejriwal”.
The court later adjourned hearing on the bail application sine die while allowing him to approach the court afresh for any other relief. Ma'adani has been lodged in the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, since August 2010. Earlier, he spent nine years behind bars in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts case before being acquitted.
In the Bangalore case, only 70 of the total 550 witnesses had been examined so far and none of them talked about his role, Ma'adani claimed.
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