Court thanks convict

In a rare gesture, the Madras High Court Bench here on Friday thanked a convict prisoner for having deposited Rs. 1,000 in a bank account opened by the court last month exclusively for the purpose of mobilising money from various sources to eradicate seemai karuvelam trees from the State.

“A life convict by name Selvaraj from Central Jail, Palayamkottai has donated a sum of Rs. 1,000 from his hard earned money for the purpose of eradication of seemai karuvelam trees and this court expresses its special thanks to him,” a Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan observed in their interim order.

Further, stating that Rs. 24,28,837 had been deposited by various persons in the bank account as on April 20, the judges said that Rs. 14.09 lakh of that amount had been given to various Collectors so far for uprooting the seemai karuvelam trees.

They also expressed their “immense thanks” to all the donors.