Madras HC upholds Madani’s acquittal

People’s Democratic Party president Abdul Nasser Madani, whose wife Sufiya was arrested by Kerala Police on Thursday for allegedly conspiring to burn down a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus near Kochi in 2005, got some relief on Friday when the Madras high court upheld his acquittal in the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts case. The bus was burned following the denial of bail to Madani.

The court also acquitted 21 others, while confirming the life sentences of 18 convicts, including al Umma founder SA Basha and general secretary Mohammed Ansari.

The blasts on February 14, 1998, during BJP leader LK Advani’s visit to address poll rallies, had claimed 58 lives. Madani was arrested on April 8, 1998, and released from Coimbatore Jail on August 1, 2007, following his acquittal by a special court.