Date:19/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/19/stories/2007111960391100.htm

Karnataka

Maudany takes up Marad case with Achuthanandan

Staff Reporter

KASARAGOD: People’s Democratic Party president Abdul Nasir Maudany said here on Sunday that Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan had agreed to discuss with Ministers the issue of giving bail to those accused in the Marad massacre case against whom the prosecution failed to substantiate charges during the trial.

Mr. Maudany said the Chief Minister gave the assurance when he called on him at the guest house here on Sunday.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr. Maudany said he believed that the Chief Minister would provide justice to innocents. The PDP was not against giving punishment to those who indulged in violence. But charges against 75 per cent of the accused in the Marad case had not been substantiated during the trial and many innocent persons were languishing in jail, he said.

Mr. Maudany said the lawyer who represented the accused in the Marad case had said that no Muslim organisation had done anything towards conducting the case of the accused other than giving a small sum to lawyers initially. “But the PDP contacted the lawyers and gave them part of the fees after I came out of prison,” he said.

The party would do everything possible to fight the case legally.