The Madras High court has granted bail to an accused in the 'Chennai Central Prison riots' case, citing inordinate delay in conclusion of trial.
The 1999 jail riots had left 12 prisoners and two jail officials dead.
Ordering release of a key accused Koduku alias Nandagopal, on bail, Justice P Devadass cited inordinate delay in conclusion of trial and lackadaisical approach of police and courts towards the case pending in a sessions court here.
Justice P Devadass, pointing out that Nandagopal was languishing in jail ever since his re-arrest in 2012, said: "Neither the police nor the court is interested in completing the trial. Police is not interested because they are not executing non-bailable arrest warrants (NBWs) against other accused persons. Court is not interested because it is not reminding the police to execute the NBWs against other accused. Now, there is a bottleneck for conducting the trial."
"In such circumstances, the accused cannot be blamed," the judge said.
Nandagopal filed the petition, saying he was falsely implicated in the jail riots, which erupted after the death of a history-sheeter 'Boxer' Vadivelu in prison campus.
Nandagopal, who was on bail during the trial period, was re-arrested as the IV Additional Sessions judge had issued an NBW because he could not appear regularly for trial. He said he was in jail for more than two years and that he had tried twice earlier to secure bail in the case.
