NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court approved has approved the demand of the Karnataka Police seeking Rs 20 lakh per month to provide security to PDP chairman Abdul Nazer Mahdani in Kerala. The apex court on Monday stated that it is not interfering with the petition against the demand of Rs.20 lakh per month. Despite getting permission to come to Kerala, the demand put forward by the Karnataka police had turned out to be a major roadblock to Mahdani's visit to Kerala.

Mahdani, the accused in the Bengaluru blast case, has been living in Karnataka for a long time as per the bail conditions. Mahdani got an opportunity to visit Kerala again after he approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to meet his ailing father. Following this, the Karnataka police demanded Rs 60 lakh (Rs 20 lakh per month) from Mahdani's family for escorting him for 82 days. The Karnataka police explained that this amount will be used for the travel and accommodation facilities of 20 police officers escorting Mahdani throughout his visit to Kerala. Mahdani's family then approached the Supreme Court against this.

A team led by SP Yatish Chandra IPS prepared the recommendation regarding the escort. The Karnataka government also informed the court that this team prepared the recommendation after visiting Kerala. Kapil Sibal, who appeared for Mahdani, argued that Rs 20 lakh was a huge amount and that Mahdani's security in Kerala cost only Rs 1.8 lakh last time. Mahdani has given details about 10 places that he needs to visit. Hence, the security cost cannot be calculated as before, the Karnataka police argued. Although Sibal argued that Mahdani will be visiting only 3 places, the apex court rejected the petition after examining the documents submitted by the police.