President commutes 20 death sentences in nine years

Separately, MHA decided to commute the sentence of Rajoana, convicted in the then Punjab CM Beant Singh’s killing

05/10/2019, VIJAITA SINGH,NEW DELHI

The President commuted death sentences to life imprisonment in at least 20 cases over the past nine years, based on the recommendations received from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

These commutations were based on the President’s exercise of powers under Article 72 of the Constitution after the convicts filed mercy petitions.

Separately, last week the MHA took a decision to commute the death sentence of Balwant Singh Rajoana, convicted over the assassination of then Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, as a “humanitarian gesture” ahead of the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Sikh founder Guru Nanak. It also decided to release eight other prisoners convicted for life for their involvement in Sikh militancy as a ‘token of goodwill’.

Beant Singh and at least 16 others were killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh in 1995. Rajoana was sentenced to death in 2007 by a special court and he refused to file a mercy petition.

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex body of the Sikhs, filed a petition on his behalf in 2014.

BJP ally and NDA member, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), had been pressing the Centre to commute Rajoana’s death sentence.

“Rajoana never engaged a lawyer when the case was being heard in the court,” said Manjinder Singh Sirsa, an SAD leader who had recently met Home Minister Amit Shah regarding Rajoana’s case — the only Sikh prisoner on death row in a militancy related case. “To highlight the atrocities against the Sikhs, he refused legal assistance. After he was sentenced to death, the SGPC decided to file a mercy petition on his behalf,” added the SAD leader.

One-off gesture

The ministry’s decision to release the eight Sikh prisoners convicted under the repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) is seen as a one-off gesture as it is not in consonance with the guidelines regarding the 2018 “Cabinet decision to grant special remission to prisoners on the occasion of 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.”

As per the guidelines: “special remission will not be given to prisoners who have been convicted for an offence for which the sentence is sentence of death or where death sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment; cases of convicts involved in serious and heinous crimes like dowry death, rape, human trafficking and convicted under POTA, UAPA, TADA, FICN, POCSO Act, money laundering, FEMA, NDPS, Prevention of Corruption Act, etc.”

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “This was in response to the long pending demands on release of Sikh prisoners raised by various sections of the Sikh community.”

Under the special remission, 2,035 prisoners were released in three phases — October 2, 2018, April 6 and October 2 this year. In the third phase, 611 prisoners were released, the ministry said.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee had commuted the death sentence in at least four cases and rejected mercy petitions in 14 cases including that of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks convict Ajmal Kasab and the 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon. President Ram Nath Kovind has rejected one mercy petition in his current tenure. The Central Information Commission (CIC) in a 2018 order had said that “grant of remission is an exercise of a statutory power under CrPC.”

The CIC’s order said: “It acknowledges the power of the Executive to grant remission to convicted persons after due consideration by the appropriate Government.”

Ahead of Dussehra, plastic Ravana emerges as the new villain

‘The intent is to personify the king in a plastic form as a demon, bad for the society and environment’

05/10/2019, JACOB KOSHY,NEW DELHI

Ahead of Dussehra, celebrants have found a new villain. The traditional practice has been to burn a massive effigy of Ravana but this year, companies — looking to capitalise on the buzz around curtailing the use of plastic — are making plastic effigies of the ‘demon-king’. The traditional act of burning it in public has been substituted by a token destruction that involves physical dismantling, recycling or — in some cases — a controlled incineration.

The Cement Manufacturers Association, for instance, is collaborating with the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to create 25-feet installations of Ravana(s) in five cities, including Delhi.

Each effigy, made of about 300 kilos of plastic waste, will be mechanically destroyed on October 8, in a cement plant, in the presence of industry and government officials, a spokesperson for the association told The Hindu. “The remnants would then would be incinerated in a closed kiln under high temperature without leaving any residue,” she clarified.

“The intent is to personify Ravana in a plastic form as a demon, bad for the society and environment. This initiative also highlights the role that the cement industry can play in helping overcome this menace in its plants in an environmentally friendly manner,” according to a statement released by the association.

Similarly, Mother Dairy commissioned a 25-ft. effigy of Ravana using waste plastic collected from households in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region, and destroyed it on October 2, which was Gandhi Jayanti.

“The Ravana effigy was not burned but was dismantled and sent for recycling by the Indian Pollution Control Association, an organisation certified by Central Pollution Control Board. The collection drive was carried out in areas across Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, along with consumers depositing plastic waste at select milk booths in these regions. The drive was supported by leading NGOs for door-to-door plastic collection,” the organisation said in a statement.

The buzz for a plastic ban grew after Prime Minister Modi on August 15 said, “By October 2, on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, I urge the citizens to give up single-use plastic.”

CBI moves SC against bail to Rajeev Kumar

HC had said no to custodial interrogation

05/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,NEW DELHI

Rajeev Kumar

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Calcutta High Court's order granting anticipatory bail to former Kolkata Police chief Rajeev Kumar in the Saradha chit fund scam case.

Giving relief to the IPS officer, the High Court had observed that his custodial interrogation was not required. The court also said that the CBI could question him, provided it gave a 48-hour prior notice to him for appearance.

The agency had opposed Mr. Kumar’s petition, arguing that he had not responded to the summonses issued over the past few weeks.

In its order, the High Court also directed Mr. Kumar to furnish a personal bond of Rs.50,000. Accordingly, after about 20 days, he made a public appearance on Thursday to complete the formalities in a city court.

The Saradha group of companies allegedly duped lakhs of people to the tune of Rs.2,500 crore, promising higher rates of return on their investments.

Mr. Kumar was part of the Special Investigation Team set up by the West Bengal government for probing the scam before the Supreme Court handed over the case to the CBI in 2014, along with other chit fund cases.

(With inputs from PTI)

Bloody, gory and glorious

A superlative performance by Dhanush underlines this mesmerising revenge tale

05/10/2019, PRADEEP KUMAR

Asuran

Director: Vetri Maaran

Cast: Dhanush, Manju Warrier, Ken Karunas, Pasupathy, ‘Aadukalam’ Naren, Nithish Veera

Storyline: One man’s fight to protect his family from those baying for their blood ends in a bloodbath

Asuran is the fastest Vetri Maaran has ever worked on a film. And that helps with its defining aspect — Asuran is Vetri Maaran’s simplest film yet. But the subliminal messaging also makes it the most complicated socio-political film he has shot till date.

For instance, the conflict is between the folks of Vadakkur (Northerners) and Thekkur (Southerners). There is conflict over land (a sharp dialogue suggests how even the very little owned by the have-nots are coveted by the rich and greedy) and there is conflict over caste (a second half sequence involving footwear). Right at the end comes the dialogue about how the powerful may snatch away lands and money, but not education.

But Asuran’s universe is based on a Tamil novel Vekkai (written by Poomani), which Vetri Maaran and Manimaran have adapted into a feature-length screenplay. He invites us into this rustic world inhabited by Sivasamy (Dhanush, in a stellar performance) right at the start of the film. The plot is simple: several incidents unfold in the lives of Sivasamy and his family after a dispute with an upper-caste family who are landowners, and hold all the money, influencing the social hierarchy. Sivasamy is thus forced to fight to save his family. The base emotion that threads together this plot is revenge — a recurring element in Vetri Maaran’s films. But here, his protagonist initially doesn’t give-in to this primal emotion. He is even chided by his family members for being weak. All that changes in a beautifully-filmed sequence right before the interval, where Sivasamy reveals a side unknown to his younger son (Ken, in a strong role). Still, when presented with an opportunity to slay the henchman who murdered his eldest son, Sivasamy shies away. His unease is explained in a flashback sequence that makes up much of the second half, and which leads the viewers towards what is a predictable climax.

Watching Asuran, I could not help but think if Vetri Maaran felt restricted by the book at some point of time, considering how unreal Sivasaamy’s universe reacts to the happenings. The film is set in the late 1950s-early 1960s for the flashback sequence, and the 1980s in the other portions. But the passage of time only seem to reflect on the actors’ physical being — nothing that happens in the plot seem out of place even today. It also made me wonder what would it take for Vetri Maaran to film a feature that explicitly discusses caste and social hierarchy.

I could also not help but think just how wonderful an actor we have amongst us in Dhanush. He gives a subdued performance as Sivasamy, and that therein is proof of the actor’s brilliance. It is amazing to think just how far ahead he is of his contemporaries. Manju Warrier could not have asked for a better film to debut in Tamil; her Pachiammal only lends credence to her abilities as an actor par excellence.

Teejay Arunasalam (as Velmurugan) and Ken (as Chidambaram) are just the perfect fits for the role, and it is remarkable how Vetri Maaran gets his casting right every single time.

Body exhumed after seven years

05/10/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,TIRUNELVELI

The CB-CID police, in the presence of revenue officials, on Friday exhumed the body of farm labourer R. Mannaar, which was allegedly buried by a farm owner and his family after the labourer got electrocuted seven years ago in an illegal electric fence erected around the farm.

Farm labourer R. Mannaar, 32, of Devipattinam under Sivagiri police station limits, who went to a sugarcane field close to his village for work on January 7, 2012, did not return home.

When his wife Mary and other relatives searched for him, they could not get any information about Mannaar for several days.

As her complaint with the Sivagiri police did not yield any information about her husband, Ms. Mary filed a case in the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in September 2018 seeking direction to transfer the case for investigation by the CB-CID.

Since her prayer was allowed, the CB-CID began the investigation five months ago and found that Mannaar, who got electrocuted on accidentally coming in contact with a live electric fence erected in the adjoining farm owned by Panneer of the same area on the fateful day, was buried inside Panneer’s farm with the help of his wife P. Pappa and son-in-law Balagurunathan, 36. Panneer had erected electric fence around the farm to check invasion of wild animals into his farm situated on the lap of the Western Ghats.

The CB-CID team, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police Anilkumar and Inspector of Police Ulagarani, arrested Pappa and Balagurunathan as Panneer died last year.

Against this backdrop, the Mannaar’s skeleton was exhumed on Friday by the CB-CID team in the presence of revenue officials.

As the accused could not exactly locate the spot where they had buried the body seven years ago, it took little over seven hours for the CB-CID team to retrieve the skeleton.

“The skull will be sent for superimposing to establish the identity of the victim while DNA mapping will be done with the help of the bones,” said Mr. Anilkumar.

Vacation sitting notified

05/10/2019,MADURAI

The sitting arrangement at the Bench of the Madras High Court for the Dasara holidays from October 5 to October 13 has been notified.

A Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and S. S. Sundar will hear Division Bench matters. After Division bench work, Justice R. Mahadevan will hear single bench writ petitions. Justice S. S. Sundar will hear single bench appellate side matters. Justice P. Velmurugan will hear criminal side matters.

HC grants bail to law aspirant

05/10/2019,MADURAI

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday granted bail to G. Karthikeyan involved in the Tirumangalam toll plaza shooting incident and allowed his father to remit the admission fees on the next working day, October 9.