Author:
Publication: Herald
Date: September 19,
2000
Amid high drama for about
four hours in the Coimbatore central jail all the 167 accused in the sensational
Coimbatore serial bomb blasts case were produced before the special court
in the evening.
Two out of the 167 accused
were produced before the court separately.
Police sources said the
accused had refused to come to the court in the morning demanding that
special judge, M Thanikachalam, trying the case, be changed.
They were also demanding
that government bear the court expenses including the fees for the defence
counsels of their choice. They also opposed a direction of the judge to
seek legal aid from the government panel, if they could not appoint counsel
on their own.
The accused were brought
to the special court around 4.00 pm after the intervention of police and
jail officials, the sources said.
According to court sources,
the main accused S A Batcha and another accused, Peoples Democratic Party
leader, Abdul Nasser Madhani, were heard saying to the court that though
they had complete faith in the judiciary they had no faith in the judge.
The judge adjourned the
case for Sept 27, court sources said.
The accused had reportedly
shouted slogans against the judge while being brought to the court, police
sources said.
The Tamil Nadu government
had appointed two new special public prosecutors (SPPs), in place of G
Soundarrajan, who had tendered his resignation on renumeration grounds.
(PTI)