On Monday, the Supreme Court granted permission to veteran Muslim scholar Abdul Nasir Maudany to stay in his home state of Kerala. Maudany, who was granted bail in connection with the Bengaluru blast case, had been residing in Bengaluru but was unable to leave the city due to bail conditions.
The top court was hearing a plea filed by Maudany seeking a relaxation of bail condition to extent of being allowed to stay in Kerala, citing health issues.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal appeared for Maudany in the apex court.
“Charges will be borne by the petitioner for escort by Karnataka Police,” the top court said.
Abdul Nasir Maudany, an assertive Muslim politician who founded Islamic Sevak Sangh and People’s Democratic Party, was arrested in connection with the Coimbatore bomb blast on 31 March 1998. After spending around 9 years in jail, he got acquitted of all charges in August 2007.
However, in August 2010, he was arrested and taken to Parappana Agrahara central prison in Bangalore in connection with the 2008 Bangalore blast case. In July 2014, Maudany got bail on medical grounds by the Supreme Court on the condition that he will not leave Bangalore and the government is at liberty to take all steps, including putting him under surveillance, to ensure he does not get in touch with witnesses in the case.
Maudany lost his right leg in August 1992 following a bomb attack from an RSS cadre near Anwarssery in Kerala’s Kollam district. In April 2021, the Muslim leader moved the Supreme Court seeking permission to leave Bangalore for his hometown in Kerala, citing health issues. However, the then chief justice of the apex court denied him permission and called Maudany a “dangerous man.”
