NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has ordered a verdict within four months in the Bengaluru blast case in which PDP chairman Abdul Nasser Madani is accused. The Supreme Court has directed the special court in Bengaluru, where the trial is going on. The Supreme Court took action on a petition filed by Tajuddin, the 28th accused in the case. Tajuddin approached the Supreme Court on the grounds that he has been in jail for 16 years without completing the trial in the case. Advocate Dr. Alex Joseph appeared for Tajuddin.

The Karnataka High Court had earlier rejected the Karnataka government's request to direct the trial court to consider new evidence against Madani and others in the case. The government had requested that direction be given to consider information, including the phone call details. Following this, the Supreme Court stayed the hearing of the final arguments to be started in the trial court and sent notices to the accused.

Madani and others had argued that new evidence could no longer be considered in a case that had already been tried. Defense lawyers had also argued that allowing new evidence to be considered would prolong the trial indefinitely.

In the blast case, which had over 500 witnesses, the court had earlier excluded about 100 witnesses from the trial process who were dead or could not be located.