The Hindu : New Delhi News : Hearing today on plea to stay death sentence in bus burning case

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Hearing today on plea to stay death sentence in bus burning case

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday will hear appeals by three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam activists seeking interim stay on execution of the death sentence in the Dharmapuri bus burning case.

Interim bail sought

A Bench, comprising Justices P.P. Naolekar and Lokeshwar Singh Panta, will hear the appeals filed by Muniappan, Nedunchezhian and Ravindran. Besides seeking suspension of the sentence, they have sought interim bail till their appeals are disposed of by the apex court.

The case relates to the death of Kokilavani, Gayathri and Hemalatha of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The bus in which they were travelling, along with 44 other students and two teachers, was torched on February 2, 2000, following the conviction of AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa in a criminal case.

On February 16, 2007 a trial court in Salem awarded the death sentence to the three accused and sentences of varying periods to 25 others. The trial court said the sentences would run consecutively. The Madras High Court, on December 6, 2007, confirmed the death sentence and the sentence of imprisonment imposed on others, but modified it to the extent that it would run concurrently.

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