Coimbatore violence: HC sets aside lower court orders

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Chennai, June 27 (UNI) Madras High Court today set aside lower court orders awarding life sentence to 11 persons belonging to majority community and nine of the minority community in connection with incidents following the murder of police constable Selvaraj at Coimbatore in 1997.

In two separate judgements, a division bench comprising Justice M Karpaga Vinayagam and Justice A R Ramalingam set aside an order of the Second Additional Sessions Judge, Coimbatore, awarding life sentence to Prabhakaran and ten others.

Similarly, it also set aside an order of the Sessions Judge for Bomb Blast Cases, Coimbatore, awarding life sentence to Abdul Kayum and eight others and allowed the appeals filed by them.

The appeals filed by Prabhakaran and others challenged August 18, 2000, order while the other appeals filed by Abdul Kayum and others challenged an order on May 15, 2001.

On November 29, 1997, traffic police constable Selvaraj was allegedly murdered by some people belonging to the minority community.

There was violence, utter chaos and confusion in the Coimbatore city following the murder. Prabhakaran and ten others thought that the entire Muslim community was responsible for the murder, the prosecution said.

On November 30, 1997, they allegedly murdered four Muslims at the CMC Hospital in Coimbatore and were arrested for various offences including section 302 of the IPC. The lower court awarded life sentence to them. Hence, they preferred the present appeals.

Setting aside the order, the bench said the unexplained delay in recording the statements of eye-witnesses, non-examination of material evidence and unusual behaviour and arbitrary conduct of the eye-witnesses created a doubt about the genuineness of the prosecution case.

Under the circumstances, this court was constrained to conclude that prosecution has miserably failed to place the correct records before the court to enable it to find out the genesis of the occurence and the part played by each of the accused in the commission of the crime.

Finally, the court was of the view that all the accused were entitled to benefit of doubt, the bench said while allowing the appeals.

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