MGR's adopted daughter acquitted of murder

A division bench comprising Justice S Nagamuthu and Justice N Seshasayee acquitted Banu on the appeal moved by her and six others against the sentences awarded to them by the Principal Sessions Court in Chennai on July 13, 2016.

The bench also acquitted the seventh accused M. Karthik while upholding the sentence awarded to five others. 

The sessions judge had convicted N Banu, G Karuna, T Suresh, R Karthik, R Dinesh Kumar, J Solomon and M Karthik for criminal conspiracy. Banu, Karuna and M Karthik were also found guilty for murder.

The prosecution had contended that Banu and Vijayan, the husband of Banu's sister Sudha were locked in a property dispute. Following this, at Banu’s behest, G Karuna, who was a police constable, executed the murder by hiring the other five accused. Vijayan was done to death by an armed gang on June 4, 2008, while he was traveling in his car near ABM avenue in Kotturpuram.

Vijayan, a former naval officer became a target as he was seen aiding his wife's brother in fighting cases against Banu. Vijayan was the personal secretary to Janaki Ramachandran when she was chief minister of Tamil Nadu for a brief while when she was chief Minister after her husband MGR's death in 1987.