ABDUL NASSER MADANI Vs. STATE OF TAMIL NADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Petitioner/accused has preferred the revision aggrieved against the order passed in C.N.P. No. 10760 of 1998 on the file of learned Judicial Magistrate V, Coimbatore in Crime No. 151 of 1998 dated 3-12-98, cancelling the bail granted to him.

(2.) The case in brief is as follows : The petitioner was arrested and remanded to judicial custody on 23-4-98 in Crime No. 151/98 for alleged offences under Sections 120-B, 147, 148, 307, 302, 427 read with 149 of Indian Penal Code and also under Sections 3, 4 and 5 of the Explosive Substances Act. Al-Umma, the Muslim Fundamentalist Organisation planned a major attack on Hindus to wreak vengeance for the incidents that followed the murder of a Police Constable Coimbatore. The extremists hatched a conspiracy on 14-2-98, the day on which the B.J.P. Party President Thiru L. K. Advani had proposed to visit Coimbatore for election campaign and on 14-2-98 evening a series of bomb blast occurred in CoimbatoreCity which resulted in the death of 58 persons and injuring 243 persons. The Police party searched the Bapulal Complex at Thirumal Street, Coimbatore in the early hours of 15-2-98 and the extremist hiding there attacked the police party with bombs and the bomb explosion that occurred, 6 extremists died on the spot and 8 other extremists were arrested. In this connection, a case in B-1 Bazaar Police Station Crime No. 151/98 was registered. The investigation was later transferred to C.B.C.I.D. on 20-2-98 and a Special Investigation Team was formed to investigate all the bomb blast cases. Based on the confession given by one Mohamed Ashruf and on the confession of one Tajudeen alias Abu Mujahith, the petitioner is involved in the bomb blast case. The respondent failed to file charge sheet within 90 days and the learned Magistrate was pleaded to grant statutory bail under Section 167 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure by an order dated 24-7-98 in C.M.P. No. 7501/98. The petitioner could not come out on bail as he was detained under National Security Act on 7-7-98. The respondent later filed the charge sheet on 28-9-98 and thereafter, the respondent filed a petition under Section 437 (5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure in C.M.P. No. 10760/98 for cancellation of the bail already ordered on 24-7-98. The petition was filed on 22-10-98 and after hearing both sides, the learned Magistrate allowed the petition on 3-12-98 and aggrieved against this, the present revision petition has been filed.

(3.) The respondent filed a detailed counter affidavit. The petitioner is one of the prime accused concerned in the serial bomb blast cases. On 14-2-98 at about 4.00 p.m. around the time Thiru L.K. Advani, then President of B.J.P. was to address the election meeting at R. S. Puram, Coimbatore City. The Coimbatore City and its suburbs were hit by a series of 12 powerful bomb blasts killing 47 persons and injuring 218 persons, apart from causing extensive damages to properties, owned primarily by Hindus. The High intensity bombs/improvised explosive devices exploded all over the City and its suburbs, including near the venue of the public meeting and were targetted primarily at Hindu congregations and Hindu establishments as also at Thiru L. K. Advani, who was planned to be targetted by suicide squad members armed with instantaneous time bombs tied to their waists and throw time bombs. However, they could not materialise since they could not penetrate the Police cordon and reach near the dias of the public meeting place. The targets included the CMC Hospital as well as Railway Station also. The bomb blasts and related occurrence of post-blast violence had been planned and executed by the since-banned muslim fundamentalist organisation named 'Al-Umma' headed by S. A. Basha (first accused) as a brutal answer/retaliation to the killings of 18 muslims in communal riots and police firings and extensive damages to muslim properties running into crores of rupees during three days following the stabbing to death of a traffic Police Constable named Selvaraj.