51 Veerappan associates move SC to stay TADA proceedings

51 Veerappan associates move SC to stay TADA proceedings
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: Fifty-one persons who are in presently in Karnataka jails in connection with cases against the jungle outlaw Veerappan have moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the designated court to prohibit it from conducting further proceedings.

In a petition filed yesterday, they said that they had been languishing in jails for the past eight years but the prosecution had failed to establish any case against them under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act so far.

The detainees had been denied liberty merely on surmises and conjectures, the petition said, pointing out that the prosecution had not examined any witness connecting them with any of the offences with which they had been charged.

``There are about 300 witnesses to be examined by the prosecution. It may take 6-7 years to complete examination of all the witnesses,'' the petition said, adding that many of the prisoners were illiterate, poor and old. Some were suffering from incurable diseases for which no medical aid existed in the jails.

The detainees drew attention to the designated court's granting permission to withdraw the TADA cases against them and argued that objections raised by any individual against this permission were not liable to be entertained by the courts.

The father of a police officer killed by Veerappan had recently moved the apex court against the designated court's decision permission the state government to withdraw TADA cases against the 51 detainees. Subsequently, the court had stayed their discharge from the TADA cases.