Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu: Edappadi Palaniswami Urges For Immediate Release Of 16 Muslim Convicts Serving Life Term For 1998 Coimbatore Bomb Blast
Edappadi Palaniswamy meeting Muslim representatives
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader and former Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has demanded that the Tamil Nadu government release 36 Muslim convicts including 16 serving life imprisonment for their role in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts which killed 58 people and left over 200 injured.
Speaking on the floor of the Tamil Nadu assembly during a session convened amid Cauvery issue, Palaniswami urged the state government to release the Muslim convicts on 'humanitarian grounds'.
AIADMK had recently passed a resolution at its party conference in favour of their release.
On 4 October, the Supreme Court dismissed the bail pleas of some of the convicts in the 1998 Coimbatore bomb blasts case, calling the incident 'atrocious'.
According to a report by The New Indian Express, the convicts had approached the apex court challenging the Madras High Court verdict upholding their conviction and sentence being listed for the first week of February 2024.
"Bail is out of question," observed the bench, as the counsel for the state said apart from killing so many people, what the convicts had done to the city was "unforgivable".
Various Muslim organisations in the state, including Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK) led by legislator MH Jawahirullah, have launched protests demanding the Tamil Nadu government to release 36 Muslims jailed for more than 20 years in the state.
The Tamil Nadu Federation of Muslim organisations and political parties, a collective of 23 Islamic outfits, has also staged several protests demanding the government reconsider cases of 38 Muslim convicts incarcerated for 22 to 26 years in various state prisons.
The Muslim outfits claim that at least 38 Muslim life convicts are lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison, Vellore Central Prison, Palayamkottai Central Prison, Cuddalore Central Prison and Puzhal Central Prison in Chennai are eligible for premature release as per rules framed by the state government.
Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) founder Thol. Thirumavalavan has also been at the forefront of demanding the release of 37 Muslim life convicts lodged in the state's prisons for over 25 years.
In December 2021, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced a committee under a retired High Court judge, Justice N Authinathan, to recommend to the state, the premature release of certain categories of life convicts.
Responding to Palaniswami's demand, Chief Minister Stalin asked the leader of opposition to join him in requesting Governor RN Ravi to act on the state government's recommendation to release 49 life convicts, including Muslims, who have served in prison for over two decades.
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