The Madras High Court has suspended the sentence awarded by a special court to eight members of a banned extremist Tamil outfit in the 1991 Puthur Police station attack case and granted them bail.
A division bench, comprising Justices S TamiIvanan and T Mathivanan, passed the order on the appeal by the eight against the March 24 last order of Special Court for Bomb Blast cases at suburban Poonamalee which had held them guilty and awarded imprisonment ranging from seven years to life, 23 years after the incident.
"A perusal of evidence of prosecution witnesses, the exhibits marked by the prosecution and the impugned judgment of conviction would reveal that there are certain major discrepancies and infirmities in the prosecution case," the bench said in its recent order.
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The case related to the attack on Puthur police station in Cuddalore district allegedly by members of Tamizhar Viduthalai Padai (Tamil Nadu Liberation Army) on April 6, 1991 in which a police officer was killed and three personnel were seriously injured.
The case was handed over to CB-CID and the trial commenced 16 years after the incident.
When the matter came up for hearing, the bench observed that the criminal appeals are not likely to be taken up for final hearing in the "near-future."
Rejecting the contention of the prosecution, which opposed the appeals, that some other criminal cases were pending against the convicts, the bench said it alone could not be a reason to deny suspension of the sentence.
The bench pointed out that the attack on the police station had happened in darkness when there was no electricity and that was the reason why the witnesses could not give any specific identification marks about the offenders.
The very purpose of identification parade was defeated because it was held two and half months after the attack and that too after the accused were produced in the court in full public view, it held.
Granting bail, the bench directed all the eight to execute a personal bond for Rs.10,000 each and two sureties for the like sum. They were also directed to report before the Special Court at Poonamallee daily at 10.30 am on all working days.
