The defence had asked prosecutors to delay Nasheed's trial by three to four weeks "or" put off the trial until after the election. When prosecutors were asked of their stand by the now contentious three Judges bench constituted just for the case, prosecutors said they had "no reservations" to delay the trial by four weeks and had "no objection" to putting off the trial until after the election. As the Elections Commission is yet to announce Nasheed as a presidential candidate for the elections, the Judges bench had said it will not decide on delaying the trial until after the election at this time. Eventually the decision to delay the trial by four weeks came after a "fragile deal" in the words of the ex-president that was brokered by the Indian government had seemingly been violated with Nasheed’s arrest on Tuesday. The deal was seemingly made 12 days ago just before Nasheed left the Indian High Commission in Male where he had taken refuge to avoid detention following his failure to appear in court for a hearing. He left the diplomatic premises after an Indian envoy dispatched by New Delhi to diffuse the political standoff reportedly won assurances from Maldivian authorities that he would be free to campaign for presidential elections. But as Nasheed quietly came out of the Indian High Commission it had not appeared that the status quo had changed in any way or form. Prosecutor General (PG) Ahmed Muizzu had reaffirmed his earlier statement by insisting that the charges against Nasheed have not been dropped and is not even considering doing so, and deferred the authority to delay the trial to the court. However, an official of the judiciary quoting the Hulhumale Court had said no decision has been made to put off the trial. Government meanwhile has repeatedly denied striking any deal that would shed some light on why Nasheed just up and left the diplomatic compound. But it always appeared unlikely that Nasheed would leave the safety of the chancery without any assurance that he would be allowed to stand in the election as so he had demanded. The reluctance by any side to admit that a deal had been struck is understandable. Any leeway on the part of the government could be perceived as weakness and succumbing to the relentless opposition pressure while the judiciary would be weary of a similar circumstance or setting a dangerous legal precedent (which they could still end up doing). Henceforth the meticulous legal procedure so to speak which was followed in the court’s decision to delay the trial cannot be perceived as anything other than a deal as it has given all interlocutors “plausible deniability.” Government can still stress it had not intervened in the trial, prosecutors can maintain that the charges have not been dropped while the court would say the trial was delayed as the prosecution had “no reservation” to the request of the defence. However, skeptics might say the trial had all the chances of continuing in four weeks and Nasheed could be convicted and barred from the election depending on the sentence. They may be right but the events that transpired in the justice building on Wednesday points to the contrary. Elections Commission has slated the presidential election for September 7 and will be obligated to announce the election in 120 days before the polls which means as things now stand it would be done so sometime in May. Though the presidential candidates in all likelihood will not be announced by the time Nasheed’s trial resumes it would be farfetched to presume the court can arrive at a sentence before May. It is a nailed on certainty that the defence lawyers would press to put off the trial until after the election as soon as Nasheed’s candidacy is announced which was the pretext under which the court on Wednesday had only opted to postpone the trial by four weeks. With prosecutors having “no objection” and Nasheed willing to face his charges after the election, the court would in all probability comply with the request, similar to Wednesday. All things considered it appears the “taboo” deal has all but assured the wish of Maldives’ international partners of an “inclusive” election ergo Nasheed’s place in the presidential race.