SC refuses bail to 12 convicts in church blast cases of 2000

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant bail to 12 people belonging to the Deendar Anjuman group, who have been awarded life term for carrying out a series of blasts at various places in Karnataka in year 2000.

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and R F Nariman put the appeals filed by them against their conviction and sentence for consideration after the summer vacation.

Advocate Kamini Jaiswal, appearing for the convicts, sought bail for them on the ground of parity with another convict Syed Abdul Khader Gilani. She said the other petitioners should also be enlarged till the time the apex court heard their appeal against their conviction and sentence.

Karnataka’s additional advocate general Devadutt Kamat, on the other hand, opposed her plea. He said the convicts, being members of Deendar Anjuman organisation, conspired and carried out the blasts at different churches in Bengaluru, Hubballi and Kalaburagi in order to disturb peace.

Kamat also urged the apex court to recall the order granting bail to Gilani in February this year. He said the convict may flee to Pakistan as he had earlier travelled several times to the neighbouring country. The state government submitted it would soon file a petition seeking restoration of death penalty to them.

Jaiswal, however, countered his arguments, saying Gilani did not have a passport and he was very much present in Bengaluru. On this, Kamat contended the convict did not require valid passport for going to Pakistan. The bench then asked the government to file a proper application for recalling the bail order.
The petitioners challenged the December 14, 2014, order of the Karnataka High Court which upheld their conviction in the case. The high court had commuted the death penalty awarded to them by the trial court to life term.

On June 8, 2000, two consecutive blasts took place in three hours at St Ann’s catholic church, Wadi, Chittapur taluk, Kalaburagi district. Another blast took place on July 8 the same year at St Lutheran Church in Hubballi. The third bomb went off on July 9, 2000 at St Peter and Paul church on JJ Nagar Main Road,
Bengaluru.