By IANS
Chennai : The Madras High Court Thursday upheld the death penalty to three AIADMK men found guilty in an arson case in which three girl students were charred alive.
In February this year, First Additional Sessions Judge D. Krishnaraja of a lower court in Salem district convicted 28 AIADMK activists on lesser charges and awarded death to three leaders of the mob for various offences, including attempt to murder.
Three girl students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, were burnt alive on Feb 2, 2000 when their college bus was set ablaze near Elakiyampatti in Dharmapuri following the conviction of former chief minister J. Jayalalitha in the Kodaikanal Pleasant Stay Hotel case.
The lower court verdict was awarded after seven long years of trial and persistent efforts by the parents of the victims.
The convicted AIADMK men appealed against the lower court ruling and a division bench of Justice D. Murugesan and Justice V. Periya Karruppayya of the Madras High Court reserved the orders on their appeal after hearing arguments from both the prose4cution and defence sides in November.
The high court Thursday upheld the lower court verdict against the three, accused of instigating mob violence that led to the burning of the bus, and with it the three girls.