On medical ground, SC grants bail to life convict in serial church blasts cases

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted bail to a man, undergoing life term for his involvement in a series of blasts at various churches in Karnataka in 2000, on medical ground.

A bench of Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao relied upon a medical report furnished by Additional Advocate General Devadatt Kamat, confirming that the applicant, Abdul Rehman Sait suffered from various ailment and was undergoing treatment in Central Prison Hospital, Belagavi.

"It appears from the report that the applicant is undergoing treatment for various diseases. This fact has also been confirmed," the bench said.

"As the applicant is not in a good medical condition, we deem it fit and proper to direct the release of the applicant-Abdul Rehman Sait, on bail, in all the four cases, on furnishing adequate security to the satisfaction of the trial court," the bench added.

The court passed its order, after hearing advocate Kamini Jaiswal on behalf of the applicant and Kamat for the state government.

On April 0, the court had asked the Karnataka government to verify his medical condition as he sought bail contending that he has been in jail for about 18 years after having been convicted and awarded life imprisonment for blasts at St Ann's Church, Kalaburagi, St Peter and Paul church in Bengaluru and St John Luthern Church in Hubballi and accidental blast at Minerva Mills in Bengaluru.

Earlier, another person, Syed Abdul Khadar was granted bail on February 17, 2017.

On Thursday, the top court ordered for listing of bail applications by other convicts for hearing in the first week of August.

The convicts, being members of Deendar-Anjuman organisation, were alleged to have conspired and carried out the blasts in June and July, 2000.

The state government challenged the December 14, 2014 order of the High Court of Karnataka that upheld their conviction in the case but commuted death sentences of some of them.