The Supreme Court has upheld the conviction of 11 individuals involved in the brutal honour killing of a young couple in Tamil Nadu, stressing that such crimes must receive strong punishment. The case involves a shocking murder witnessed by many villagers in 2003.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India has said that “honour killing must get a strong measure of punishment”. On Monday, the Court upheld the conviction of 11 people who were found guilty of the brutal murder of a young couple in Tamil Nadu back in July 2003.
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A bench made up of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prashant Kumar Mishra heard the case and decided not to interfere with the earlier judgment of the Madras High Court. In June 2022, the Madras High Court had confirmed the conviction and sentence given to the accused persons, which also included two police officers. The Supreme Court said that it agreed with the High Court’s judgment.
According to the details shared by the Court, the victims — Murugesan and Kannagi — were both in their early twenties when they were killed. They were murdered by being given poison, and the crime happened in front of a large crowd of villagers. The Court described the incident as a “dastardly murder”.
The Supreme Court bench pointed out that such cases of honour killing are extremely serious and must receive strict punishment. They emphasized that the act was not only illegal but also carried out publicly, showing no fear of law or society. The Court’s message was clear that strong action must be taken against those involved in honour killings to send out a strong warning and to uphold the rule of law.
The case had earlier gone through the Madras High Court, which in June 2022 upheld the trial court’s decision to convict and sentence the accused persons. The convicted individuals included two police officers, showing that even people responsible for upholding the law were involved in the crime.
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Refusing to make any changes to the High Court’s decision, the Supreme Court said that,
the crime was committed in a shocking manner, with the victims poisoned openly in front of many villagers. The Court used strong words to describe the nature of the crime, calling it a “dastardly murder”.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court reiterated that
“honour killing must get a strong measure of punishment”.
The Court said
it was important that courts deal firmly with such crimes to protect young couples and the constitutional right to marry a person of one’s choice. The strong observations made by the Supreme Court highlight the serious view taken by the judiciary on ho
The appellants had a powerful team of Senior Advocates including Ratnakar Dash, M Sathyanarayanan, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Siddharth Aggarwal, S Nagamuthu, and Anjana Prakash. They were supported by a large group of experienced lawyers such as K Balu, Avinish K Saurab, S Thananjayan, Poornachandiran R, Ajith Williyam S, Puspita Basak, Ankur S Kulkarni, Karuppaiah Meyyappan, Kanika Kalaiyarasan, Tushar Srivastava, Shourya Dashupta, Nirnimesh Dube, Prabu Ramasubramanian, Raghunatha Sethupathy B, Arshiya Ghose, S Sabari Bala Pandian, Pariksheet Bishnoi, Yusuf, Muthalagu, Naveen, G Anandan, G Jai Singh, Muthu Ganesa Pandian, MA Gouthaman, Ram Sankar, Harini Ramsankar, Usha Prabakaran, Maheswaran Prabakaran, and the legal firm M/s. Ram Sankar & Co. Other lawyers who were also part of the team included C Paramsivam, Nishant Sharma, Rakesh K Sharma, Promila, Deepak Reddy, Pradum Kumar and Neeraj Dubey.
The respondents were represented by Additional Solicitor General Vikramjeet Banerjee, who is one of the top legal officers in the country. He was joined by a skilled legal team that included Mukesh Kumar Maroria, Arkaj Kumar, B K Satija, Rukhmini Bobde, Anukalp Jain, Madhav Sinhal, Rohit Khare, Sunanda Shukla, Ishaan Sharma, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Rahul Shyam Bhandari, G Priyadharshni, Satyam Pathak, Prabhakar Pahepuri, Harsh Vardhan and K Kesavan.
The case involved intense legal arguments and was closely watched by many in the legal community. With such a strong line-up of senior and junior advocates from both sides, the courtroom witnessed well-prepared and high-level legal presentations. Each advocate played their role in presenting facts, interpreting law, and defending their clients’ interests to the best of their ability.
CASE TITLE:
[K.P Tamilmaran vs. The State by Deputy Superintendent of Police].
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