Summary:
The Supreme Court in March 2016 commuted their punishment to life imprisonment, saying that the incident was not pre-meditated, according to reports. Guidelines were subsequently framed by the government for considering the cases of life convicts for their premature release under Article 161 of the Constitution. They torched a bus with 44 students and two teachers of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. The AIADMK government recommended the premature release of over 1,500 life convicts including the three lodged in the Vellore prison on the occasion of late chief minister MG Ramachandran's birth centenary celebrations. Chief Minister Edapadi Palaniswami-led government had recommended the release of the three convicts to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, who had asked the state government to review its decision..