That's exactly what I said. By and large their rules are pretty straight forward. There are hardly a handful of trains which fall into an ambiguous territory like this one. It's only for a few exceptions like these that they become difficult to comprehend.
The rake idling at MAS has got nothing to affect the rake, but the point is that both trains have to be treated as independent trains, only because one of the two is a long distance train. If both trains were short distance trains, then there is no problem in treating them as a single rake (like Seshadri). But when one of the two trains is a long distance train by itself, then...
more... it's better to be safe than sorry.
There are guidelines for long distance trains to ensure safe travel. Similarly there are guidelines for rakes with RSA arrangements. Now, there are relatively few trains which belong to both categories. And from a safety perspective, when a train falls into both categories, it is always better to follow the more stringent one - in this case, that of the long distance runs.
Obviously there isn't much difference if the layover at MAS is treated as a 'long halt' and the rake receiving maintenance only at CBE and ADI, but then considering that MAS-ADI is a separate train, and a long distance one at that (3700km round), it's safer to provide it dedicated maintenance than 'interpreting' the rules to avoid it. I agree, it is more on the lines of strictly following rules.