Man to be released after SC freed co-convicts

THE Madras High Court has ordered the release of a convict in a case of dacoity and murder since his co-accused were released based on the orders of the Supreme Court commuting their sentence from life imprisonment to 10 years.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai

A division bench of Justices M S Ramesh and V Lakshminarayanan passed the orders on Tuesday on a petition filed by Indira Gandhi who prayed for the court to release her husband D Balu alias Balasubramaniam, who has been languishing in the Cuddalore Central Prison after being convicted for the 2002 dacoity and murder at Virudhachalam, on the basis of parity with the co-accused.

The bench said it has no difficulty in arriving at the inevitable conclusion that had he filed an appeal in the SC, his sentence too would have been reduced to 10 years.