Chennai: Acquitting two accused in the sensational case relating to the murder of Vijayan, husband of Sudha, the foster daughter of former chief minister and popular film star MGR in the city in 2008, the Madras high court upheld the life sentence awarded to the remaining five accused. A division bench comprising Justices S.Nagamuthu and N.Seshasayee acquitted N.Banu, sister-in-law of the deceased Vijayan and M. Karthik, while upholding the life sentence awarded to G. Karuna, a constable, T. Suresh, R.Karthick, R. Dinesh Kumar and J.Soloman.
Acquitting Banu, the bench said, "We hold that so far as Accused-1 (Banu) is concerned, her alleged participation in the conspiracy has not been proved by the prosecution beyond reasonable doubt. Admittedly, she did not participate in the occurrence in which the deceased was killed. Thus, we hold that the prosecution has failed to prove the case against the first accused beyond reasonable doubts. Therefore, she is entitled for acquittal". So far as Accused-7 (M.Karthik) was concerned, the only evidence available was that he lent his Ambassador car to Accused-3 (Suresh). But absolutely, there was no evidence that he either had knowledge or reason to believe that the car was going to be used for the purpose of killing the deceased.
