The Hindu : National : Appeal against acquittal: BJP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
ePaper

National

National

Appeal against acquittal: BJP

Special Correspondent

— Photo: Special Arrangement

key accused: The accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts case, Al-Umma founder-president S.A. Basha (left) and vice-president Tajudeen, being taken to the Special Court on Wednesday.

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said the prosecuting agency should appeal against the acquittal of People’s Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Maudhany in the Coimbatore serial blasts case. But Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala said the Left Democratic Front should apologise to Mr. Maudhany, as its Government handed him over to the Tamil Nadu police.

Reacting to the verdict, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said his party feared that both the Congress and the Left parties would ensure that no appeal was filed against the special court verdict. They were using Mr. Maudhany in electoral politics, he alleged.

This point was conceded by the former Kerala Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader K. Karunakaran. Here to participate in an NCP working committee meeting, he told mediapersons that all Kerala politicians — including himself — had sought Mr. Maudhany’s help during elections but invariably ignored him thereafter.

Responding to questions on the failure of successive governments to secure his release despite election-eve assurances, Mr. Karunakaran said the Kerala Government’s hands were tied because he was in custody in another State.

Mr. Chennithala said that as the court had declared Mr. Maudhany innocent, the LDF should apologise, particularly because it projected his arrest and handing him over to the Tamil Nadu police as an achievement in its leaflets.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National