FORMER VC SON’S KILLER ON LIST TOO
Govt to release 3 AIADMK men in bus burning case?
Shanmugasundaram J & A Selvaraj TNN
Chennai: 08.07.2018
: The Tamil Nadu government is planning to free three AIADMK functionaries who are serving life terms for their involvement in the 2000 Dharmapuri bus burning case. It also plans to release another life convict
John David involved in the 1996 murder of Navarasu, son of Madras university vicechancellor Ponnuswamy.
A prison department source said that the eligible criteria were defined and drafted, keeping in mind certain prisoners including Nedunchezhian, Madhu and Muniappan, for the premature release. “Since there is no objection from the victims’ families, there is no stopping their release,” said the source.
The three on February 2, 2000, torched a bus and roasted alive women students Gokilavani, Gayatri and Hemalatha to vent their ire over the Supreme Court judgment against their party leader J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. In March 2016, the Supreme Court commuted the trio’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
250 of 1,753 life convicts prematurely released
Soon, the life convicts in the sensational case will walk out of Vellore Central Prison for Men as part of former chief minister M G Ramachandran’s birth centenary, the source added.
John David will also benefit under the premature release scheme. In November 1996, he murdered Pon Navarasu, the son of former vice-chancellor of University of Madras Ponnusamy, cut up the body into several pieces and stuffed them in a suitcase before abandoning it.
So far, around 250 of 1,753 life convicts have been prematurely released.
As per the guidelines in GO Ms No 64 dated February 1 issued by the home department, convicted prisoners who completed 10 years of actual imprisonment as on February 25 are eligible for the premature release.
Similarly, those who have served 20 years in prison as on February 25 are also eligible for premature release, apart from those suffering incurable blindness caused naturally, those dangerously ill and those in danger of death from sickness. Besides, the state government has widened the eligibility criteria introducing a new rule including robbers and dacoits who have successfully completed 20 years of their term. “The government has extended the date up to February 25 to accommodate the three to enable them to be released along with 1,750 other prisoners,” said a source in the police department.
In 2008, the DMK government set 1,405 life convicts free on the eve of the birth centenary of former chief minister C N Annadurai. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy then approached the Supreme Court against the en masse release and the practice was put on hold for nearly seven years.
However, a Supreme Court Constitution Bench in its 2015 verdict on the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case said the state government was empowered to release convicts under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Govt to release 3 AIADMK men in bus burning case?
Shanmugasundaram J & A Selvaraj TNN
Chennai: 08.07.2018
: The Tamil Nadu government is planning to free three AIADMK functionaries who are serving life terms for their involvement in the 2000 Dharmapuri bus burning case. It also plans to release another life convict
John David involved in the 1996 murder of Navarasu, son of Madras university vicechancellor Ponnuswamy.
A prison department source said that the eligible criteria were defined and drafted, keeping in mind certain prisoners including Nedunchezhian, Madhu and Muniappan, for the premature release. “Since there is no objection from the victims’ families, there is no stopping their release,” said the source.
The three on February 2, 2000, torched a bus and roasted alive women students Gokilavani, Gayatri and Hemalatha to vent their ire over the Supreme Court judgment against their party leader J Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. In March 2016, the Supreme Court commuted the trio’s death sentence to life imprisonment.
250 of 1,753 life convicts prematurely released
Soon, the life convicts in the sensational case will walk out of Vellore Central Prison for Men as part of former chief minister M G Ramachandran’s birth centenary, the source added.
John David will also benefit under the premature release scheme. In November 1996, he murdered Pon Navarasu, the son of former vice-chancellor of University of Madras Ponnusamy, cut up the body into several pieces and stuffed them in a suitcase before abandoning it.
So far, around 250 of 1,753 life convicts have been prematurely released.
As per the guidelines in GO Ms No 64 dated February 1 issued by the home department, convicted prisoners who completed 10 years of actual imprisonment as on February 25 are eligible for the premature release.
Similarly, those who have served 20 years in prison as on February 25 are also eligible for premature release, apart from those suffering incurable blindness caused naturally, those dangerously ill and those in danger of death from sickness. Besides, the state government has widened the eligibility criteria introducing a new rule including robbers and dacoits who have successfully completed 20 years of their term. “The government has extended the date up to February 25 to accommodate the three to enable them to be released along with 1,750 other prisoners,” said a source in the police department.
In 2008, the DMK government set 1,405 life convicts free on the eve of the birth centenary of former chief minister C N Annadurai. BJP leader Subramanian Swamy then approached the Supreme Court against the en masse release and the practice was put on hold for nearly seven years.
However, a Supreme Court Constitution Bench in its 2015 verdict on the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to release the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case said the state government was empowered to release convicts under Article 161 of the Constitution.
