HC reserves orders on life convict's petition

The Madras High Court today reserved its orders on a petition filed by a life convict lodged at the central prison here seeking reinvestigation of a rape and murder case filed against him claiming that he was innocent.
Veerabharathi submitted that he was awarded death sentence for the rape and murder of a girl by a trial court in 1999, though he was innocent.
The high court had commuted the live sentence to life imprisonment in 2000.
He made a representation through the Jail Superintendent to the Home Secretary and DGP seeking reinvestigation of the case by subjecting him to lie detection scientific tests on his volition, according to the guidelines of the National Human Rights Organisation.

The Home Secretary directed the DGP to take necessary action on his representation, the petitioner submitted and alleged that the DGP did not take any action.
Then he approached the high court, which directed the officials to consider and dispose his representation within two months on January 3, 2012. But the officials rejected his representation.

He again submitted representations to the DGP on June 19, 2012, which were rejected again by the official.
He submitted that the police had ordered reinvestigation even without scientific methods earlier. The courts did not give him the benefit of doubt though they came to the conclusion that it remained a mystery as to who actually murdered the girl, for which he was convicted.

"In such case of dilemma lie detecting scientific test would be an effective alternative to fix the needle of oscillation" and the court should intervene and quash the DGP's order rejecting his request, the petitioner submitted.