The Madras High Court has quashed the life sentence imposed on a 17-year-old boy in the Mayiladuthurai murder case, holding that the trial and custody violated provisions of the Juvenile Justice law. The court directed that the case against the minor be transferred to the Juvenile Court for fresh consideration.
The case relates to the killing of Kannan, identified as a Vanniyar Sangam town leader, who was hacked to death in Mayiladuthurai on August 17, 2022, allegedly due to prior enmity. In the case, the Mayiladuthurai Sessions Court had convicted nine of the accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment on October 31 last year, while acquitting 12 others. One of the accused, Ajithkumar, who had been out on bail during trial, was later murdered in 2024.
The High Court noted that although the boy was under 18 at the time of the incident, his case was tried along with adult accused before the Sessions Court, leading to a conviction and life sentence. It also recorded that despite an order to send him to a juvenile reform facility, he was lodged in Cuddalore Central Prison due to the absence of such a facility.
The habeas corpus petition was filed by the boy’s mother, Saveetha, challenging both the Sessions Court trial and the detention in a regular prison. A division bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and Sundar Mohan ruled that the Sessions Court judgment convicting and sentencing the minor must be set aside, and ordered the Juvenile Court in Mayiladuthurai to complete the retrial within six months.
Observing that the boy had been kept in Cuddalore Central Prison from June 9, 2023 without being placed in a reform school, the High Court granted him conditional bail and directed that Rs 1 lakh be paid as compensation for the illegal detention. The bench also recorded appreciation for advocate E.V. Chandru for assisting the court.
