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SC stays release of Veerappan's associates

Fakir Chand in Mysore/Bangalore

In a dramatic turn of events, the Supreme Court on Tuesday restrained the sessions court, Mysore, from releasing the 51 detained associates of forest brigand Veerappan until September 1, 2000.

Tuesday was the 29th day of the crisis involving the abduction of Kannada film star Dr Rajakumar and three others by the bandit, who is still holding them captive in the Iggalur-Satyamangalam forest range on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border.

A bench comprising Justices S P Bharucha, S S M Kadri and Santosh Hegde directed the lower court to hold back the release of the detainees until it hears on Friday the special leave petition of Abdul Kareem, former deputy superintendent of police and father of Sub-Inspector Shakeel Ahmed, who was killed by the outlaw in 1992.

On Monday the lower court had granted bail to all 51 suspected associates of Veerappan on surety and a cash bond, whereupon the Karnataka government had dropped all criminal cases against them under section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

But on Tuesday, as the lawyers of the accused were completing the formalities in court for setting them free after depositing the mandatory surety under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, news arrived that the apex court had directed Judge M S Rajendra Prasad to put off the release until it had heard Kareem's SLP later in the afternoon.

Kareem had last week filed the SLP in the Supreme Court against the dismissal of his petition by the designated TADA [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act] court on August 17, challenging the Karnataka government's decision to withdraw charges against the 51 detainees in response to Veerappan's demand.

Though Kareem's lawyers brought the SLP to Judge Rajendra Prasad's notice on Monday as he was about to deliver his order on the bail applications of the detainees, he overruled the objections saying there was no directive `per se' nor a stay from the apex court against releasing them.

The Supreme Court's intervention dealt a major blow to Public Prosecutor Ashwini Kumar Joshi and advocate Venu Gopal, chief counsel for the detainees, even as they were preparing the grounds to set them free from Mysore Jail where they have been languishing for the last seven years.

In fact, Kannada film stars Ambarish and Vishnuvardhan and many fans of Rajakumar came forward earlier in the day to stand surety for the accused by offering funds so that the court could process their papers and release them by evening.

With the Karnataka government dropping the criminal cases against all 121 accomplices of Veerappan, who had made this demand the main condition for Rajakumar's release, the 51 accused were looking forward for their much-awaited freedom on Tuesday.

Earlier, Karnataka Advocate General A Jayaraman flew to Delhi to appear in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state government in the SLP case.

With emissary R Raja Gopal setting out of Madras in the wee hours of Tuesday on his way to Veerappan's lair along with the documentary evidence of the two states having responded to his latest demands, both governments have been caught off-guard again by the developments on the judicial front.

EARLIER REPORTS:
SC puts off TADA detainees' case till September 1
Karnataka will not appeal to Karim

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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