Court grants 3-month bail to Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy

Top Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy, accused of trying to set up a base for banned outfit Communist Party of India-Maoist in Delhi, has been granted interim bail for three months by a Delhi court on health grounds.

The court said that the 65-year-old Ghandy, who is in custody in the case since September 2009, was suffering from various ailments and his condition has ‘visibly deteriorated’ during the period of trial.

“In these facts and circumstances, I admit accused Kobad Ghandy to interim bail for a period of three months on him furnishing a personal bond in the sum of Rs one lakh and two sureties of the like amount,” Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh said.

The court is currently recording the prosecution evidence in the case in which Ghandy along with co-accused Rajender Kumar alias Arvind Joshi is facing trial.

Ghandy is facing trial for the alleged offences punishable under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and various provisions of the Indian Penal Code. The court had framed charges against Rajender Kumar under several IPC sections.

During arguments on bail plea, Ghandy’s counsel told the court that his client was suffering from multiple ailments for which he required constant medical treatment, which was not properly provided in the jail.

The court had called for a report from the superintendent of Tihar jail regarding Ghandy’s medical condition and after perusing it, the judge said, “It is apparent that Kobad Ghandy is suffering from a host of medical ailments.”

“His condition has visibly deteriorated during the period the trial of this case has progressed before this court,” the court said.

Ghandy, an alumnus of the prestigious DoonSchool in Dehradun and St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, is facing prosecution in around 20 criminal and terror cases in different parts of the country.       

According to the police, he was said to be part of the top leadership of erstwhile CPI-Marxist Leninist (People’s War Group) since 1981. He allegedly continued as a central committee member in CPI-Maoist after the merger with the People’s War Group and elected to the Maoist Politburo in 2007.