Kodnani 'suffering from suicidal impulse'; SC extends bail

The Supreme Court on Monday extended till February 24 the interim bail to former Gujarat minister Maya Kodnani, convicted in the 2002 Naroda Patiya riots case, but made it clear that it won't be further extended if she fails to file an affidavit stating the kind of burn injury she suffered.

The apex court refused the plea of her advocate Ram Jethmalani who pleaded for bail on the ground that she is suffering from suicidal impulse and asked him to file affidavit of burn injury that she suffered recently due to which it extended the interim bail twice.

"Don't ask us to do what is impermissible in law. We have seen the photograph and we are not satisfied," a bench of justices H L Dattu and S A Bobde said, asking him to file affidavit giving details of her burn injury.

When Jethmalani pleaded for regular bail on ground of her her mental condition, the bench said, "You should go back to custody and then seek regular bail."

The bench had earlier extended her interim bail which was expired on February 12 saying that "She is in a pitiable condition and she needs some relief."

It had directed her to file affidavit stating injury suffered by her.

Kodnani filed the petition challenging the February 8 order of the Gujarat high court declining to extend her three months temporary bail granted on medical grounds on November 12 last year.

She had sought extension of bail by 180 days.

The trial court had in August 2012 awarded life imprisonment to Kodnani, Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and 29 others for Naroda Patiya incident of 2002 riots in which 97 people were killed.

The trial court had dubbed Kodnani, a sitting BJP MLA and former minister in Narendra Modi government, as "kingpin of riots" in Naroda area and sentenced her to 26 years imprisonment.

Image: Maya Kodnani