CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has questioned the Tamil Nadu government for taking different stands in the matter of releasing life convicts prematurely.
A division bench on Wednesday observed that life convicts involved in the heinous Dharmapuri bus burning case had been given premature release, which had also taken a cabinet decision and recommended to the Governor to release the seven accused in former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for early release in September, 2018. However, why the same yardstick was not applied for a convict who committed a murder in a fit of rage, a division bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose asked.
The bench was hearing a contempt application from Amutha, seeking to punish authorities concerned for not releasing her son Senthil, who was serving life imprisonment for a long period in the Central Prison
in Salem. She claimed that the High Court, while passing orders on a petition on September 26, 2018, had directed the Superintendent of Salem prison, to send the proposal for premature release of Senthil, to the Board within six weeks and the committee/board shall take a decision as per law at the earliest. Contending that the official did not do so despite lapse of the stipulated period, Amutha moved the High Court with the present petition.
When the matter came up today, Advocate-General Vijay Narayan assured the bench that he would give a positive reply by Thursday. And the matter stands adjourned by a day.