K'tka HC dismisses Madani's plea to quash charges

Holding that there was a prima facie case against Peoples Democratic Party leader Abdul Nasser Madani, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a criminal petition filed by him on Thursday, seeking quashing of a charge sheet regarding the 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts case.

"The material collected so far by the investigating officer reveals there is a prima facie case against him," Justice Subhash B Adi observed while dismissing the petition. The judge said since investigation was still on, it was not proper for the court to interfere in it at this juncture. "It is not a fit case for quashing of the charge

sheet," Justice Adi ruled.

The court on August 19 had reserved its order on the petition by Madani, who was named as an accused in the additional charge sheet regarding the Bengaluru blasts, which claimed the life of a woman and left 20 injured. Madani was arrested from Kerala by a Karnataka police team on August 17 and brought here after an eight-day-long wait.

The PDP leader was an accused in the 1998 Coimbatore blast case, but was acquitted by the trial court. The blast, that took place hours before senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani's election meeting, claimed 58 lives and injured over 200 people.