PIL seeks shifting of Sasikala, Ilavarasi to Tumakuru jail

A PIL has been filed seeking directions to shift AIADMK general secretary V Sasikala Natarajan and her aide Ilavarasi from Parappana Agrahara prison to Tumakuru prison meant exclusively for women.

The PIL filed by ‘Traffic’ Dr K R Ramaswamy, a senior citizen from Chennai, has approached the Karnataka High Court to shift Sasikala and Ilavarasi to another prison to prevent frequent visits by ministers of the Tamil Nadu government.

The petitioner has contended that four ministers – Sengottaiyan, Minister of Education; Kamaraj, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies; C Srinivasan, Minister for Forests and Sellur K Raju, Minister for Co-operation, Statistics and Ex-servicemen Welfare visited Sasikala and have been receiving instructions and diktats from her.

The petitioner has contended that the current Tamil Nadu government is run indirectly by Sasikala.

The petitioner has said that there has been gross constitutional violation and breach of privilege exhibited by four Tamil Nadu ministers by visiting these convicts. They have committed offences under the Indian Penal Code for dereliction of duty as public servants by being absent from the Assembly and holidaying on a highway cruise in government luxury cars to meet and submit themselves to the diktats of a convict.

 The petitioner has said that the present prison where Sasikala is housed is very close to Hosur, making it easy for the ministers and others from Chennai to visit her frequently. The petitioner has also sought directions to restrain any ministers from visiting Sasikala. The AIADMK general secretary aspired to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu and was convicted in the disproportionate assets case by the Supreme Court in February this year. She has been jailed and is housed at the Central Prisons at Parappana Agrahara on Hosur Road. The PIL will come up for hearing before the Chief Justice of Karnataka.

GP member’s murder case
The Karnataka High Court on Monday suspended the sentencing of four accused in the murder of Doddakallasandra gram panchayat president B M Muniswamy (37) in October 2006.

A division bench comprising Justice B S Patil and Justice B V Nagarathna passed an order of suspending the lower court order which had convicted eight people to life imprisonment. The bench also granted bail to the four accused in the murder. The division bench, hearing the criminal appeal, suspended the sentencing of Srinivas alias Kulla Srinivas, a history-sheeter, Thimmarayappa, D Murthy and R Shantha Kumar.

The bench suspended the sentencing citing lack of evidence against the accused stating that the prosecution has failed to collect enough material against the accused in the case.

Muniswamy was hacked to death by Srinivas and others who intercepted his vehicle near a farm and attacked him with weapons. While Muniswamy died on the spot, some of his supporters sustained injuries when they tried to protect him.

Muniswamy, a member of the Janata Dal (S) contested the gram panchayat elections in Doddakallasandra against Srinivas. Muniswamy won the elections and was elected president. Srinivas had threatened to murder him if he won the elections. Srinivas conspired with his associates, murdered Muniswamy and escaped.

They returned to Doddakallasandra and declared that they had murdered him. The police had arrested Srinivas and his associates and sent them to jail. They were later released on bail. The remaining four accused in the murder were asked to withdraw their applications by the bench.