Death row convict seeks permission to complete LLB in 7/11 Mumbai trains blast case (Maharashtra)

Written by Sadaf Modak |Mumbai |Updated: June 25, 2016 12:01:56 am 

As an undertrial, Siddiqui had enrolled for the LLB course at Siddharth College of Law under Mumbai University in 2014, after receiving permission from the MCOCA court. 

Ehtesham Siddiqui, on the death row in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case, has approached the special MCOCA court, seeking permission to pursue his studies. In a letter written from the Arthur Road prison, Siddiqui has said that having successfully completed the first year of his three-year LLB course, he had to miss the second- year examinations due to his conviction. Siddiqui and four others were sentenced to death in September last year for the train blasts. As an undertrial, Siddiqui had enrolled for the LLB course at Siddharth College of Law under Mumbai University in 2014, after receiving permission from the MCOCA court. In his plea, he has said that the examinations for his course are scheduled to begin in July. Siddiqui has said that till his death sentence is confirmed, he should be considered as an undertrial and not a convict as per law. An appeal is yet to be filed before the Bombay High Court in the case. 

Ehtesham Kutubuddin Siddiqui being escorted by the police to the court where he was awarded the death sentence in the 7/11 bomb blasts.

Siddiqui and co-accused Sajid Ansari, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, had both previously appealed to the Bombay High Court, seeking to be moved to Mumbai after they were shifted out of the city post their conviction, to complete their studies. In his letter, Siddiqui has also cited the Sunil Batra judgment of the Supreme Court which had laid down the fundamental rights of prisoners, observing that rights may suffer shrinkage due to incarceration but do not leave the person as he enters prison. The court has sought a response from the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Siddiqui’s plea, adjourning the matter to next week.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/711-mumbai-trains-blast-case-death-row-convict-seeks-permission-to-complete-llb-2874045/ (Accessed 20 December 2018)

Convict who dodged noose for 12 years dies (Tamil Nadu)

Published: 19th May 2016 06:12 AM 

By Express News Service

COIMBATORE: A 58-year-old convict, who had been sentenced to death and later had his sentence commuted to life in prison, died after suffering from chest pain in Coimbatore prison on Wednesday. The man was convicted for murdering five members of his extended family in Erode district in May 1984. The deceased convict R Govindasamy (58) was lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison. Sources said that Govindasamy, a resident of Sathyamangalam in Erode district, had murdered five members of his uncle’s family on May 29, 1984. He had slit the throats of his uncle Nagamalai Gounder, uncle’s wife and their two sons, and also attacked Nagamalai Gounder’s daughter.

In 1985, an Erode court had acquitted him for lack of evidence. The Government appealed the verdict in the Madras High Court, which sentenced him to death in 1997. He was initially imprisoned at Puzhal Prison, later shifted to Vellore and then finally lodged in Coimbatore prison. Govindasamy had appealed the sentence in the Supreme Court, which upheld his sentence. He had then appealed to the State Government and had sought clemency in a letter to the President’s office. 

However, his pleas were rejected. He was set to be hanged in 1999, but he managed to dodge the hangman’s noose after he made repeated appeals to the HC and SC untill 2009. In 2009, the President of India commuted his death sentence to rigorous life imprisonment till his death. On Tuesday, after spending the best part of two decades in prison, and working at a book binding unit there, he complained of chest pains. He was taken to the prison hospital. He was later shifted to the CMCH, where he was declared brought dead. 

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2016/may/19/Convict-who-dodged-noose-for-12-years-dies-905477.html (Accessed 20 December 2018)

In prison, Kerala techie on death row takes charge of computerisation

Published: April 20, 2016 17:50 Akhel Mathew, Correspondent

Reports indicate that he is well-behaved in prison

Thiruvananthapuram: Prisoners are normally those who are in the wrong place for the wrong reasons. But a Kerala techie who was sentenced this week to death for a double murder, has turned just the right person for jail authorities in the state capital. The seasoned IT expert has been put in charge of the prison’s computerisation works. Death row convicts in India typically spend years in prison, and therefore the jail should be able to use Mathew’s tech expertise for a considerable time.

Nino Mathew, 40, and his colleague Anushanti, 32, were sentenced this week to death and a double life sentence respectively, for a double-murder committed in April 2014. Mathew, a married man and a father of one child, fell in love with Anushanti, wife of one Lijeesh, and the duo planned to do away with Lijeesh and his daughter Swastika, 4, to live the rest of their lives together. Accordingly, Mathew reached Lijeesh’s house on April 16, 2014 and hacked to death Lijeesh’s mother and Swastika who were at home, and waited to murder Lijeesh. When Lijeesh arrived, Mathew threw chilli powder at his face and hacked him, but Lijeesh managed to escape and based on his statements, police were able to nab Mathew and Anushanti the same day.

Local media reported that Mathew, who is convict No. 975 at the Poojapura Central Jail here, continues to have an IT job, quite like the one he did at a company in the Technopark campus. He is presently in charge of computerisation work of the jail canteen, a job that he was entrusted with when he spent four months at the prison as an undertrial prisoner. In place of his starched and smart-looking attire while at the Technopark, complete with the ubiquitous identity tag of techies, Mathew now wears prisoner’s clothes and carries the convict ID number. Otherwise, he is busy at the computer terminal just as he was during his career in an IT company in the role of a project manager.

Reports indicate that he is well-behaved in prison. And the jail authorities are pleased to have someone like Mathew helping them out in computerisation of the jail facilities, because it would have cost them a packet to hire someone of Mathew’s expertise to do the job. Mathew’s paramour, Anushanti has been housed at the women’s jail, but is yet to be given any specific job. Anushanti was handed a double death sentence by the Thiruvananthapuram Principal Sessions Court judge, V. Shersy. The court observed that by colluding to murder her own little daughter, Anushanti was a “disgrace to motherhood”.

Source: https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/india/in-prison-kerala-techie-on-death-row-takes-charge-of-computerisation-1.1717971 (Accessed 20 December 2018)