Life convicts in Dharmapuri bus burning case released
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Chennai:20.11.2018
Three AIADMK workers, who were serving life term at Vellore Central Prison in the Dharmapuri bus burning case, were set free on Monday under the government’s premature release scheme.
A Neduchezhiyan, G Ravindran and C Muniyappan walked out of prison around 12.15pm, an hour after the prison authorities received a communication from the state home department. “Everything happened within an hour. It was done in a discreet manner,” said a prison source.
ADGP (prisons) Ashutosh Shukla said the department received a communication from the home department regarding the release of the convicts on Monday morning.
Premature release scheme helped Dharmapuri convicts
DMK president M K Stalin questioned the state government “haste” in getting the governor’s nod for release of the three convicts. The government, he said, had not shown the same urgency in releasing the seven Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, who have now been in jail for 27 years. Law minister C Ve Shanmugam, however, said the state did not see caste, religion, party and politics for recommending premature release of convicts.
On February 2, 2000, the trio torched a bus of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) to vent their ire over the Supreme Court judgment against late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in the Pleasant Stay hotel case. College students Kokilavani, Gayatri and Hemalatha were burned alive in the incident. The district court awarded them capital punishment on February 16, 2007. The Supreme Court, which initially confirmed the death penalty, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in March 2016, after they filed a review plea in the court.
The government orders 2330, 2331 and 2332 dated November 18 stated that based on the recommendation of the two committees constituted for the premature release of the life convicts, the ADGP (Prisons) has sent a proposal for the premature release of the trio. “They are eligible for the premature release as they completed 10 years of actual imprisonment on the occasion (as on February 25, 2017) of the birth centenary of M G Ramachandran,” said a senior prison official quoting the GO.
After the governor sent back the proposal of the trio for the premature release recently, the Edappadi K Palaniswami government reiterated its recommendation for the premature release three a week ago. “After the governor gave his nod, the additional chief secretary (Niranjan Mardi) passed the orders on Sunday,” said the source. Sources in the prison department said the eligibility criteria were defined and drafted, keeping in mind certain prisoners including Nedunchezhian, Madhu and Muniappan, for the premature release.
Shanmughasundaram.J@timesgroup.com
Chennai:20.11.2018
Three AIADMK workers, who were serving life term at Vellore Central Prison in the Dharmapuri bus burning case, were set free on Monday under the government’s premature release scheme.
A Neduchezhiyan, G Ravindran and C Muniyappan walked out of prison around 12.15pm, an hour after the prison authorities received a communication from the state home department. “Everything happened within an hour. It was done in a discreet manner,” said a prison source.
ADGP (prisons) Ashutosh Shukla said the department received a communication from the home department regarding the release of the convicts on Monday morning.
Premature release scheme helped Dharmapuri convicts
DMK president M K Stalin questioned the state government “haste” in getting the governor’s nod for release of the three convicts. The government, he said, had not shown the same urgency in releasing the seven Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts, who have now been in jail for 27 years. Law minister C Ve Shanmugam, however, said the state did not see caste, religion, party and politics for recommending premature release of convicts.
On February 2, 2000, the trio torched a bus of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) to vent their ire over the Supreme Court judgment against late AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa in the Pleasant Stay hotel case. College students Kokilavani, Gayatri and Hemalatha were burned alive in the incident. The district court awarded them capital punishment on February 16, 2007. The Supreme Court, which initially confirmed the death penalty, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment in March 2016, after they filed a review plea in the court.
The government orders 2330, 2331 and 2332 dated November 18 stated that based on the recommendation of the two committees constituted for the premature release of the life convicts, the ADGP (Prisons) has sent a proposal for the premature release of the trio. “They are eligible for the premature release as they completed 10 years of actual imprisonment on the occasion (as on February 25, 2017) of the birth centenary of M G Ramachandran,” said a senior prison official quoting the GO.
After the governor sent back the proposal of the trio for the premature release recently, the Edappadi K Palaniswami government reiterated its recommendation for the premature release three a week ago. “After the governor gave his nod, the additional chief secretary (Niranjan Mardi) passed the orders on Sunday,” said the source. Sources in the prison department said the eligibility criteria were defined and drafted, keeping in mind certain prisoners including Nedunchezhian, Madhu and Muniappan, for the premature release.
