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SC stays Veerappan`s `aides` release till Sept 1
The Supreme Court has stayed till Friday (Sept 1) all proceedings in the District and Sessions Court in Mysore relating to the release of 51 TADA detainees.
Zeenext Bureau
New Delhi/Bangalore, Aug 29: The Supreme Court has stayed till Friday (Sept 1) all proceedings in the District and Sessions Court in Mysore relating to the release of 51 TADA detainees.
With this, the release of Kannada film star Rajkumar and three other hostages, who have been abducted by Veerappan, is likely to be delayed as releasing of the detainees is one of the major demands of the brigand to free the hostages.
On Monday, the Mysore court granted bail to 51 TADA detainees. Subsequently, the Karnataka government decided to drop all charges, including IPC, against them.
But, the apex court admitted a public interest petition by Abdul Karim, father of slain police officer Shakeel Ahmed, and directed the Mysore court to stop all proceedings related to bail till Sept1.
Karim had unsuccessfully moved the lower court against the dropping of charges. Of the 121 accused, including 20 women, 70 have already been released on bail and the remaining 51 were given conditional bail by the judge Monday. A Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice S.P. Bharucha, fixed Friday to hear the appeal. Abdul Karim, in his plea, said, “Some of the vested interests/agents who might have been parties on their sharing the bounties of Veerappan which amounts to crores of rupees could bring pressure on the corridors of power in Karnataka, and the state took a decision to withdraw all the 14 TADA cases against the brigand and his associates.” The seventy-six-year-old petitioner further said due to state government's illegal decision and the designated court's order, “justice is denied to the victims of Veerappan's barbarity and banditry. Many innocent civilians and brave police and forest officials will suffer irreparably if the cases against the hardcore ctiminals are withdrawn in this fashion”. He feared that “if released on bail, they (the accused) may jeopardise the interest of the families of the victims and create terror in the minds of the general public and disturb and destroy the public order”. Seeking quashing of the designated court order, Karim said it had been passed in violation of the several apex court decisions and the constitutional provisions. “The order has resulted in an unprecedented miscarriage of justice as the designated court has failed appreciate that the permission was sought on the grounds extraneous to the interest of justice.” He said the state government's application for withdrawal of cases indicated that “the machinery in Karnataka state has become totally ineffective and it gives signal to the general public that this kind of concessions given by the state government enables the potential criminals to become hardened criminals so that whatever heinous offences they may commit, they can escape from the clutches of criminal justice and even become elected representatives of the people (MLAs or MPs).” Such beneficiaries, he said, would sit at the “place of enactment and spoil the morality of the general public”. Abdul Karim also recalled the Supreme Court's judgment in 1980 which warned that: “Political fervor should not convert prosecution into persecution nor political favour reward wrongdoer by withdrawal from prosecution.” The plea also said: “If the political fortunes are allowed to be reflected in the process of the court, very soon the credibility of the rule of law will be lost.”
On Monday, the Mysore court granted bail to 51 TADA detainees. Subsequently, the Karnataka government decided to drop all charges, including IPC, against them.
But, the apex court admitted a public interest petition by Abdul Karim, father of slain police officer Shakeel Ahmed, and directed the Mysore court to stop all proceedings related to bail till Sept1.
Karim had unsuccessfully moved the lower court against the dropping of charges. Of the 121 accused, including 20 women, 70 have already been released on bail and the remaining 51 were given conditional bail by the judge Monday. A Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice S.P. Bharucha, fixed Friday to hear the appeal. Abdul Karim, in his plea, said, “Some of the vested interests/agents who might have been parties on their sharing the bounties of Veerappan which amounts to crores of rupees could bring pressure on the corridors of power in Karnataka, and the state took a decision to withdraw all the 14 TADA cases against the brigand and his associates.” The seventy-six-year-old petitioner further said due to state government's illegal decision and the designated court's order, “justice is denied to the victims of Veerappan's barbarity and banditry. Many innocent civilians and brave police and forest officials will suffer irreparably if the cases against the hardcore ctiminals are withdrawn in this fashion”. He feared that “if released on bail, they (the accused) may jeopardise the interest of the families of the victims and create terror in the minds of the general public and disturb and destroy the public order”. Seeking quashing of the designated court order, Karim said it had been passed in violation of the several apex court decisions and the constitutional provisions. “The order has resulted in an unprecedented miscarriage of justice as the designated court has failed appreciate that the permission was sought on the grounds extraneous to the interest of justice.” He said the state government's application for withdrawal of cases indicated that “the machinery in Karnataka state has become totally ineffective and it gives signal to the general public that this kind of concessions given by the state government enables the potential criminals to become hardened criminals so that whatever heinous offences they may commit, they can escape from the clutches of criminal justice and even become elected representatives of the people (MLAs or MPs).” Such beneficiaries, he said, would sit at the “place of enactment and spoil the morality of the general public”. Abdul Karim also recalled the Supreme Court's judgment in 1980 which warned that: “Political fervor should not convert prosecution into persecution nor political favour reward wrongdoer by withdrawal from prosecution.” The plea also said: “If the political fortunes are allowed to be reflected in the process of the court, very soon the credibility of the rule of law will be lost.”