The execution was fixed for September 9 after the President rejected the clemency petition of the three early this month.
Minutes before a division bench of the High Court, comprising Justice C Nagappan and Justice M Sathyanarayana, restrained the Vellore Jail Authorities from executing the death sentence, the Assembly unanimously adopted the resolution moved by Chief Minister Jayalalitha urging the President to commute their death sentence to life imprisonment.
As all roads led to the High Court complex on Tuesday morning with hundreds of activists of various organisations and sympathisers virtually swarming the area, a 40-minute absorbing session in a packed courtroom turned the tables, with the judges admitting the writ petitions by the three prisoners and granting their interim injunction to stay the execution of the death penalty.
The court order was quickly cabled to Vellore Jail officials where the convicts are lodged.
In a brief order after eminent Delhi-based lawyer Ram Jethmalani and two others argued the case for Murugan, Santhan and Perarivalan, respectively that the convicts had a good case for commuting their death penalty as already over 11 years had elapsed when the President rejected their mercy petitions on August 12 this year.
They noted that there was a delay of 11 years and four months in deciding the petitioners’ mercy petitions.
“The matter involved questions of law and the writ petitions are admitted,” they said and granted the interim stay prayed for. The judges also directed issue of notice to the respondents, including the Union Home Secretary and the state government returnable in eight weeks.