Muslim convicts, behind bars for 25 years, wage legal battle for premature release

CHENNAI: Three murder convicts from Coimbatore sentenced to life, incarcerated for the last 25 years, are waging a legal battle for premature release and claim that their identity and procedural issues are proving to be a stumbling block.

M Ibrahim (alias) Nettai Ibrahim, A Ibrahim and B Yasudeen were sentenced to life on Feb 6, 2001 for murdering Palanisamy (alias) Kannan, a lottery vendor, at Coimbatore in 1997, claim that they are in prison despite being eligible for premature release as per the Tamil Nadu government orders. More than 2,000 life convicts have been set free as per the GOs issued, some of them within 7-10 years of jail term, but the three accused are still in prison.

The serial bomb blast in Coimbatore city in 1998 executed by extremist organisation Al Umma, a year after their arrest, weighed heavily on their case, the life-termers claim. Our legal rights and opportunity for premature release are jeopardised as we are seeing through a communal lens, say the inmates. “Our faith (religion) is the only reason why we are still in prison,” said Yasudeen.

After completing 14 years the convicts approached the judiciary, seeking premature release. They were eligible for the premature release as per GO 1155 issued in the DMK regime in 2008 to mark the birth centenary of DMK founder and former CM CN Annadurai and the AIADMK government in 2018 to mark the birth centenary of their party founder MG Ramachandran. They were not considered for release as their case was given communal colour which is not true, the convicts claim. They continued knocking on the doors of the judiciary, including the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court, since 2008 for bail and premature release.

The Coimbatore serial blast, according to Yasudeen, turned their life upside down. “We were on bail when the city witnessed serial blasts. The police secured us on the pretext of a preventive arrest. Since then, we were left in the prison,” said Yasudeen, who claimed that he was implicated in the murder case when he was 18. Legal circles point out that people convicted of murder, not amounting to terrorist activities or creating enmity between communities, are usually getting released in 7-10 years, if they are certified for good conduct by prison authorities. The inmates in this case claim they have been proved of good conduct in the prison, but they feel they are being singled out when it comes to premature release.

Now 44 years old, Ibrahim regretted the chain of events that confined him behind bars for a little over a quarter century behind bars. “Based on my good conduct during imprisonment, the prison department granted me ordinary leave (parole) for the last seven years. I have been availing 15 days ordinary leave (that is given in four spells 6+ 3+3+3),” said Ibrahim, who is on bail now.

Two of them completed UG and PG courses and a couple of diplomas during their incarceration. Yasudeen got himself enrolled in a distance education programme for the prisoners. They were granted parole in the last few years based on their good conduct in the prison.

The trio was on the verge of getting released as the Supreme Court, after going through their plea, was all set to exercise its power under Article 142 of the Constitution. However, the counsel representing the Tamil Nadu government appealed to the SC to wait for the Governor’s nod to release them along with other eligible prisoners under Article 161. This procedural issue delays the premature release of the trio further, said S Prabhu, the counsel of the trio.