2007 Mecca Masjid blast case: BJP condemns Telangana govt's assurance on revoking Aseemanand's bail

Hyderabad: BJP said on Saturday the Telangana government's statement that it would take steps to get the bail granted to the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast accused Swami Aseemanand cancelled was an "insult to judiciary and legal system".

"BJP strongly condemns and disapproves Home Minister Nayani Narasimha Reddy's statement in the Legislative Assembly yesterday in response to an AIMIM MLA's contention on the bail," party spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao told PTI.

"BJP considers it as insult to judiciary and the legal system of India, which provides bail as a fundamental right of an undertrial...The Indian Constitution and the legal system provides bail as a legal right of an undertrial," he said.

According to Rao, without even having the fundamental knowledge of legal structure of India and the rights of undertrials, Reddy has "hastily assured something which he cannot deliver".

"Law does not discriminate religion, if it were to, then all terrorist activities in the world would be attributed to one religion. The Home Minister should realise that he should not stoop down to religious appeasement while being in a constitutional position of a Home Minister of a State," Rao added.

Responding to AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi's demand that the Government exert pressure on the NIA, which is probing the case, to move court against the grant of the bail, Reddy had on Friday assured that steps would soon be taken to get it "cancelled" and ensure that "justice in done".

The court of the Fourth Metropolitan Sessions Judge here granted bail to Aseemanand and Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai, a co-accused in the case on Thursday.

In his reply to Owaisi's demand during the Zero Hour, Reddy said, "The question raised by member Akbaruddin Owaisi is a valid question. Definitely, an inquiry will be conducted on how he (Aseemanand) got the bail. Efforts will be made to get the bail cancelled. We will ensure justice is done."

Owaisi had demanded that the TRS government should "pressurise" the NIA, which is probing the case, to take steps to ensure that Aseemanand's bail gets cancelled. "The cases were registered and the Hindutva members were arrested after the CBI inquiry. However, Swami Aseemanand was granted bail by a court," Owaisi had said. "Whether it's Osama Bin Laden or Aseemanand, the terrorists should be dealt with sternly. I am hopeful that the government will prevail upon and pressurise the NIA to get the bail to Aseemanand cancelled and he, along with others, is sent back to jail," the MLA had said.

Swami Aseemanand was arrested on November 19, 2010, from Haridwar. The Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007, left nine persons dead. On March 8 this year, Aseemanand and six others were acquitted in the 2007 Ajmer blast case by a Jaipur court. He was then brought from Jaipur and lodged in a prison here.