Karnataka earns SC wrath for billing ₹15 lakh for escorting Maudany to Kerala

The Karnataka government on Thursday found itself at the receiving end from the Supreme Court for demanding about ₹15 lakh from 2008 Bengaluru serial blasts case accused, Abdul Nasir Maudany, to escort him to Kerala for his son's wedding. The court had recently granted Maudany 14 days' bail for his Kerala visit. It had ordered Maudany to bear the expenses for his police escort. However, a Bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao expressed shock when Maudany's lawyers, advocates Prashant Bhushan and Haris Beeran, presented in court a communication from the Bengaluru Police Commissioner saying Maudany would have to shell out ₹14,79,876 to cover the expenses of the police escort. A visibly annoyed Bench asked the Karnataka government whether it was trying to indirectly scuttle the court's order allowing Maudany to go to Kerala. The court asked whether escort duty was not part of police work. The court directed Karnataka to prepare a fresh list of expenditure and return on August 4. In his plea for bail, Maudany said he had last visted Kerala in July 2016 and had refrained from making frequent requests for relaxation of the conditions to his bail. “The petitioner (Maudany) has only sought relaxation now because it his son's wedding and therefore it is necessary for him to attend,” the plea said. Noting the last time he had asked for bail, Karnataka government had assured the Supreme Court that the trial would be concluded in four months. But the trial was not completed and he had to seek bail in July 2016 to visit his ailing mother in Kerala. In one of the earlier hearings, the Supreme Court had expressed concern about the prolonged nature of the trial, observing that an accused person should not languish in jail as his trial proceeds at a snail's pace and every effort should be made on the State government's side to expedite the trial and deliver justice in the case. Maudany was first granted bail on July 11, 2014 on the ground of medical treatment.