Beheading dalit youth case: Yuvaraj cannot claim 'A' class prison as his right, says Tamil Nadu govt before Madras HC

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government submitted before the Madras High Court that the life convict prisoner S Yuvaraj cannot claim A class prison as his right since he was convicted for a grave offense of beheading a Dalit youngster.

A division bench of Justice MS Ramesh and Justice Sunder Mohan heard a petition moved by Suvitha, wife of Yuvaraj seeking to grant A-class prison for her husband, who is currently in Coimbatore Central Prison serving a life sentence.

The State filed a counter stating that the plea is not at all maintainable either in law or on facts.

As per the rules 225, 226, and 227 of the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 1983, prisoners shall be eligible for class A, if they are of social status, education or habit of life have been accustomed to a superior mode of living, said the counter. If any person convicted of an offense involving gross indecency or exhibiting grave depravity of character may not be placed in Class A, said the State.

In the present case, the petitioner’s husband has been convicted for an offense of grave depravity of character, hence the plea cannot be granted by the State, said the affidavit. Furthermore, the district collector of Salem also rejected the representation of the petitioner seeking A-class prison considering the grave nature of the offense, the State added.

After the submission, the bench posted the matter to June 20 for further submission.

On June 2, last year, the High Court upheld a trial court order, convicting and sentencing life imprisonment for Yuvaraj of Dheeran Chinnamalai Gounder Peravai, and seven others in the sensational case of beheading a Dalit youth, Gokulraj in 2015.