Home Dalit Cancelling Andhra court bail to Kobad Ghandy meaningless: SC

Cancelling Andhra court bail to Kobad Ghandy meaningless: SC

By IANS,

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday declined to cancel the bail granted to Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy by the Andhra Pradesh High Court in the Aug 15, 2005 killing of the then assembly deputy speaker Narsi Reddy and eight others, terming it “meaningless”.

Declining to interfere with the high court order granting bail to Ghandy, the apex court bench of Justice B.D. Chauhan and Justice Swatanter Kumar observed that cancelling the bail would be meaningless as it would not affect the status of the Maoist leader who continues to be behind bars in Delhi’s Tihar jail.

The court said that interfering with the high court order would be necessary only if he was let off on bail in the cases registered against him by Delhi Police. Having said this, the court kept the petition pending.

The Andhra Pradesh government had moved the apex court challenging the high court order Aug 10, 2011, granting bail to Ghandy alias Aravindhu alias Kamal. The apex court by its Jan 27, 2012, order had suspended the high court order after the state government furnished evidence against him and his alleged involvement in 20 other cases.

The High Court while granting bail noted that there was lack of evidence and Kobad Ghandy had already undergone two years of custody.

The Andhra Pradesh government had contended that Ghandy had confessed to his role in 2005 killings in a confessional statement made after his arrest in Delhi in 2009.