The Andhra Pradesh High Court has questioned the decision of the state government to grant remission to eight murder convicts who were serving a life term in a brutal murder case. None of the eight had completed 14 years in jail, the term they were sentenced to by the High Court in 2011. The High Court has asked the government to file a detailed reply by August 25.
In 1996, 12 people were accused of hacking Parthama Reddy to death in Nellore. In 2006, the trial court acquitted all 12. In 2007, Parthama Reddy’s wife, Mudi Navaneetamma, and the state moved the High Court against the acquittals. In 2011, the High Court convicted all 12 and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Two years later, the convicts moved the Supreme Court. The apex court upheld the HC order but exempted one person from the life term. Now, nine years later, the Andhra Pradesh government granted remission to eight out of the 11 convicts who were serving life terms.
Puchalapalli Naresh Reddy, Konduru Dayakar Reddy, Puchalapalli Subrahmanyam Reddy, Y Masthan, K Sudhakar Reddy, Puchalapalli Srinivasulu Reddy, Puchalapalli Niranjan Reddy and Chennuru Venkata Ramana Reddy are the eight who walked out of jail on Independence Day after they were granted remission.
It was on August 14 that the Andhra government released an order granting remission to the eight convicts. Navaneetamma then moved the HC challenging the order.
Justice Ch Manavendranath Roy said that anyone sentenced to life imprisonment was eligible for remission on special grounds only after 14 years. He also mentioned that an endorsement of satisfactory conduct from the jail authorities is another requirement. In this particular case, it is the Governor who granted remission of sentence to all eight persons. The government will now have to submit a detailed reply to the Andhra Pradesh High Court on August 25.
Speaking to TNM, G Venkateswara Rao, counsel for Navaneetamma, said that Parthama Reddy was killed due to a feud as part of political factionalism in the village. “The government has filed a counter saying the powers of the Governor are being questioned. The fact is we have only appealed against the government’s order to release them before they completed a 14-year jail term. The convicts were arrested at different times and lodged in different jails. Four of them have only served eight years in jail while the others have served only 11.” Though the petition in the court has only objected the remission on technical grounds, sources say that the men released had political and caste-based connections.