Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Tamil Nadu
By V.S. Palaniappan
The order gains significance in the wake of a warrant issued by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate court that he be produced on March 4 in connection with 11 cases pending trial. The communication said that under Sec. 268 of the Cr.PC, the Government decided to "restrict the movement of Mr. Maudany in the central prison". Mr. Maudany was arrested by the Coimbatore city police in 1998 in connection with the serial blasts case and was facing trial before the special court for charges of conspiracy and supply of logistics to Al Umma militants, who reportedly executed the blasts in February 1998. Mr.Maudany unsuccessfully sought bail from the Madras High Court as well as from the Supreme Court on a number of occasions. He also moved the Kerala High Court seeking transfer of all cases pending before it to one court, citing health and security reasons. Conceding this, the Kerala High Court transferred all pending cases against him before various courts to the Ernakulam CJM court, which issued a warrant in January first week directing the Superintendent of Central Prison, Coimbatore, to produce him on March 4. This sparked debates among police and judicial officers and apprehensions were voiced over prospects of bringing him back to Tamil Nadu for conducting the trial. The prison officials were even planning to cite Mr. Maudany's health as a reason for his inability to shuttle between the central prison and the Ernakulam court regularly. Lodging Mr. Maudany in a Kerala prison for completing the trial in those cases would mean a setback to the serial blasts case, which just started progressing after a delay of nearly four and a half years. In fact, disposing of a bail application filed by Mr. Maudany, the Supreme Court directed the special court to conduct the trial on a regular basis to ensure early disposal. The trial in serial blasts case gained significance as it was considered as the second most important and sensational case, next to the Mumbai riots/serial blasts. The prison authorities solicited legal opinion to avoid a possible inter-State row and it was hanging fire for more than 45 days. Legal opinion, sources said, made it clear that the special court for bomb blasts cases had a "stronger priority" than the Ernakulam CJM court. The special investigating team of the CB-CID, prosecuting agency in the serial blasts case and the central prison, were planning to go by apex court guidelines when presence of an accused was sought by more than one court at a time. "Cases pending before special courts would have priority over cases pending before sessions courts". Hence, the central prison here would communicate the decision of the Tamil Nadu Government to the Kerala court immediately, expressing its inability to produce Mr. Maudany.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
