Parties and individuals in Kerala lobbying for the release from prison Islamist leader Abdul Nasser Madani, accused in the 2008 Bangalore bombings case, suffered a huge setback on Sunday with Karnataka Home Minister KJ George ruling out any move from the part of the Congress Government to intervene in court proceedings in his favour.
“Madani’s case is in the court. It is up to the court to decide whether he should be given bail or not,” George, a Keralite by origin, told media in Kottayam on Sunday. “The prosecution’s arguments in the court are based on the FIR and probe reports. The FIR was filed by the previous Government and our Government has nothing to do with it,” he said.
The enthroning of a Congress Government in Karnataka in May had enhanced the hopes of pro-Madani lobbyists in Kerala for his release on bail from the Parappana Agrahara prison outside Bangalore where he has been lodged as 31st accused in the bombings case since his arrest on August 17, 2010.
George said that the present Government in Karnataka could do nothing legally to help Madani secure release on bail as the FIR in the case had been filed by the previous Government, triggering criticisms instantly that the Congress regime was being harsher on Madani than the former BJP government which had arrested and imprisoned him in the bombings case.
Madani himself issued a Press note from the prison alleging that Karnataka had become a police Raj where matters were being decided not by the Government but by police officials with communalist mentality. Pro-Madani campaigners in Kerala accused the Congress party of being more anti-minorities than the BJP.
After the Congress came to power in Karnataka, a delegation of the Muslim league, second biggest partner of Kerala’s Congress-led ruling UDF, had met Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah and Home Minister George to request for steps to help Madani, charged under several charges including the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, for getting bail.