CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Tiruvannamalai District Collector to decide within two weeks on a plea seeking Class A prisoner facilities for former DMK MLA Kamalakannan, who is serving life imprisonment in a murder case.
When the matter came up before the vacation bench comprising Justices L Victoria Gowri and N Senthil Kumar, the Court directed the District Collector of Tiruvannamalai to consider the petitioner's representation and dispose of the same within a period of two weeks.
On receiving appropriate direction from the District Collector, the Superintendent of Prison, Central Prison, Vellore, is directed to act appropriately, and the petition was disposed of.
In February this year, the Principal District and Sessions Court at the Combined Court Complex in Tiruvannamalai convicted Kamalakannan and six others and sentenced them to life imprisonment in connection with the murder of a farmer over a land dispute near Vandavasi town in May 2014.
Following this, they were lodged in the Vellore Central Prison.
In this situation, Kalaiarasi, wife of Kamalakannan, filed a petition before the Madras High Court stating that she had submitted a representation to the Tiruvannamalai District Collector on March 16 to treat her husband as a Class A prisoner tentatively and to provide him with all Class A prisoner privileges and facilities as per the Tamil Nadu Prison Rules, 2024. As no decision had been taken on the representation, she sought a direction to the Collector to consider her plea.
During the hearing, the Additional Public Prosecutor submitted that, on receiving appropriate direction from the Collector, the petitioner’s representation would be duly considered.