Chennai, Jul 23 (PTI) A murder convict acquiring a number of educational qualifications during his 17 years of incarceration seems to have impressed the Madras High Court which has recommended his premature release, saying all that knowledge should be put to use in the outside world.

Roja Venkatesh alias Venkatesh, serving life term at the Puzhal prison for murdering a person belonging to another community, was arrested and imprisoned when he was 21 years old in 2001.

After serving 17 years of imprisonment, he applied for premature release as per a government order dated February 1, 2018, which fixed 10 years as the set off period.

However, by a November 1, 2019 order, his plea was rejected by the Home ({Prison-IV) department. Hence, the present petition to order his release as per the 2018 GO.

When the matter came up before the court recently, the bench of Justices N Kirubakaran and P Velmurugan was impressed by the educational qualifications acquired by the convict during his prison term.

When the bench was told that Venkatesh who had committed a heinous crime, has obtained various degrees including Masters in Computer Application, Business Administration, and Criminology & Criminal Justice Administration besides a post graduate degree in Journalism & Mass Communication and various other vocational diplomas, the judges were amazed.

They opined that the learning, which he had obtained in jail, must be put to use outside.

Moreover, the jail records showed his behaviour there had been satisfactory. The only ground against him was he had murdered a person from another community and, therefore, some religious enmity might still prevail.

It had also come on record that on various occasions, he had gone back to his native place with and without police escort, the judges pointed out.

The conduct of the petitioner and the qualification acquired by him is similar to that of a convict in another case, who had been ordered to be released prematurely by the Supreme Court in 2020, the bench pointed out.

The rejection order is not sustainable as the petitioner had already completed 11 years and 5 months of incarceration as on February 25, 2018 (the cut off date) fixed by the February 2018 GO and he had already undergone sentence under an ineligible section, as on that date, the bench said.

The order rejecting the petitioner's claim for premature release is in violation of the order passed by the Supreme Court and that the reasoning given is diagonally opposite to the stand taken by the state government before the apex court in a similar case.

The good behaviour and conduct of the petitioner, as admitted by the jail authorities, is one of the factors which should have been considered for the premature release, the judges said and quashed the rejection order.

It directed the Home department to recommend the case of the petitioner for premature release, extending the benefit under the 2018 GO within four weeks.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)