The 31 Hindraf protesters charged with attempted murder would have to spend the night in the police lock-up as the Shah Alam Sessions Court would only rule on their bail application tomorrow.

The delay in the court in making a ruling on their bail - following a prolonged argument by both the prosecution and defence team - would mean that 26 of the 31 accused would be spending their second night in the police lock-up.

The remaining five were charged today while the rest were charged yesterday.

They are charged with attempted murder of police personnel Dadi Abdul Rani and causing mischief with criminal force. Among them, 12 are also jointly charged with participating in an illegal assembly.

The 31 are alleged to have taken part in an illegal assembly on Nov 25 in Batu Caves while waiting to join other supporters at a Hindraf rally in Kuala Lumpur.

At least 3,000 people had gathered in the temple grounds in the early hours of Nov 25 ahead of the street rally.

Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd and 69 people were arrested, although 43 were let off with a warning.

The bail application proceedings were punctuated by tense arguments between attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail and the defence team.

Abdul Gani, the government's highest-ranking legal officer, made a rare appearance in court to lead the prosecution team.

Having won one over the defence team earlier in the day by knocking out their argument that the charges against the accused were without basis, Abdul Gani proceeded to submit on why he was objecting bail.

His main point was that the offence for attempted murder and causing mischief was not bailable.

This was followed by the submission made by lead defence counsel GK Ganesan, who urged the court to grant bail to the accused.

Photographic evidence

Ganesan said there was no evidence that the accused would abscond if they were released on bail.

He also argued that three of the accused had medical conditions while another four were either college or university students, and thus required bail.

The defence lawyer added that a number of the accused four of whom were on the way to a wedding and two were on their way to work at dawn - were unlikely to have committed the alleged crimes.

On the point of law, Ganesan argued that there was legal precedence which allowed evidence to an impending trial to be adduced during the bail application stage.

He then showed 15 photographs obtained from a website which depicted police action during the incident at the Batu Caves temple.

Going through the photographs one by one, he told the court that the police had herded the crowd into the Batu Caves temple compound before firing tear gas and water canons laced with chemical water onto them.

He also pointed out the prosecution had stated in the charge sheet that the alleged offences took place between 1am and 8am - a rather long time-frame.

Ganesan argued that it was difficult to fit the 31 accused, who were arrested at different times and places, with the same intention to commit the crimes.

"My suggestion is that these photographs do not absolve my client (of the alleged crime), but the photographs show that their innocence is plausible," he added.

Ganesan also said that the photographs were meant to show that there was no sufficient evidence to charge the accused.

He then asked for a RM900 bail for each of the accused persons, and offered a land title worth RM410,000 as security.

Shocking disclosure

In his reply, Abdul Gani however countered Ganesan's arguments by saying that the photographs had indeed implicated the accused.

Referring to the second photograph produced by Ganesan, Abdul Gani said, "Their fist are pumped in the air and fingers pointing upwards. This is not peaceful."

Abdul Gani's contention that the crowd were not gathered at the Batu Caves temple for prayers drew a sharp rebuke from several defence counsel.

Abdul Gani: My case is that no one was allowed to pray (at the Batu Caves temple) between 10pm and morning.

P Uthayakumar: I must object. The AG appears to have more authority than the temple committee.

Abdul Gani: (Turning to face Uthayakumar and shouting) You cannot do this!

After Sessions judge Azimah Omar had restored order, she said her records stood at where Abdul Gani had made claims on the prayer times at Batu Caves.

"We will adduce evidence in court (about the times) and there are witnesses," said Abdul Gani.

Abdul Gani also linked the Batu Caves crowd to the rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) - to which Uthayakumar is the legal adviser - which occurred hours later at the city centre.

The prosecutor told the court that those gathered at Batu Caves were intending to participate at the Hindraf rally, and then proceeded to make a shocking allegation.

Abdul Gani: There are some Hindraf members meeting with LTTE (Sri Lankan separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam)...

Uthayakumar: (Standing up and shouting) That is slanderous! He is abusing his powers!

Defence counsel M Manoharan joined the fray but Azimah restored order shortly after.

The bail application only started after court hours at 5pm and submissions continued until 8.45pm. Judge Azimah then ruled that she would be making her decision tomorrow.